Puri: With less than a week left for the world-famous Rath Yatra in Odisha’s Puri, the district administration has declared a five-km radius ‘no flying zone’ around the pilgrim town for a 12-day period from July 16 to ensure public safety and foolproof security during the festival.
According to officials, the move has been taken keeping in view the prevailing security scenario and potential aerial threats from unauthorised unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones, to ensure orderly conduct of the mega event, which attracts lakhs of devotees from across the country
and abroad.
However, this prohibition will not apply to drones operated by authorised government or security agencies. Exceptions will be made for official purposes such as aerial surveillance, security operations, photography, videography, mapping, documentation and disaster response provided they are specifically permitted by the competent authority in consultation with the Puri SP.
Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Revenue, Susanta Kumar Pati has been designated as the nodal officer to coordinate with all permitted drone-operating agencies. Strict legal action will be taken against anyone violating the order, said officials.
In another significant step, Odisha Police will deploy a mobile cyber van during Rath Yatra in Puri to assist devotees if they fall prey to any online frauds including fake hotel booking scams. Two to three officers of the Crime Branch will be engaged in the van to provide assistance to the visitors on a real-time basis, sources said.
It may be noted that Puri police on Thursday detected and disabled a drone flying near Shree Jagannath Temple in the pilgrim town. The drone was seized near Matimandap Sahi and its operator Jayakrishna Mandal, a native of Kolkata, detained.