Rath Yatra: Tourists Asked To Vacate Hotels & Lodgings In Puri By This Evening

Puri: With the two days remaining for the world-famous Rath Yatra, the Puri administration has asked the tourists to vacate hotels, lodgings and guest houses by Saturday evening.

Puri Collector Samarth Verma informed that the owners of the hotels and lodgings have been asked to ensure that no tourists stay put in the town during Rath Yatra. Besides, the guest houses of different companies and corporate houses have also been given similar instructions.

He also said that curfew will be clamped in Puri town from 8 pm on Sunday to 8 pm on Tuesday and no shops and business establishments on Bada Danda (Grand Road) will be allowed to remain open during this period.

The collector, however, said that optical shops, medicine outlets and the shops dealing with medical equipment will remain open in other areas of the town during the curfew period.

“All entry points to the town will be sealed. Eight checkpoints would be set up to keep a watch on people entering the town during the annual festival,” he added.

To allow residents to stock necessary items before the curfew, the SRC had earlier announced that there would be weekend shutdown restrictions in the town on Saturday.