Bhubaneswar: The Shri Jagannath Temple Act will be amended to prevent flying of drones over the 12th-century shrine in Odisha’s Puri town.
A clause will also be added to stop the use of mobile phones inside the temple premises.
This was decided at a meeting of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration on Saturday.
Temple chief administrator Arabinda Padhee said a suitable clause will be drafted by a committee formed under the chairmanship of the district collector and sent to the state government for approval. He said that the existing penal provisions are not deterrent enough for putting a stop to flying of drones over the restricted zone, and carrying mobile phones inside the shrine, prohibited over security reasons. “Hence, we have decided to add a clause to the temple act and amend it to take severe action against those involved in such activities,” he said.
Earlier, the Law department was considering deployment of police personnel at the four watchtowers surrounding the temple complex to keep an eye on drones flying over it.
Padhee further informed that the ongoing Ratna Bhandar repair and conservation work were also reviewed in the meeting. “The 5 iron beams connecting the inner and outer Ratna Bhanda will be replaced with stainless steel box beams. The Khodalite stones are also being replaced with the same stone variety,” he told mediapersons.
The repair works are likely to be completed by Akshaya Tritiya.
Besides preparations of Rath Yatra, the meeting also decided that a YouTube channel of the Shree Jagannath Temple will be launched on the Odia New Year and organic rice will be used for preparing Kotha Bhoga. Another information centre of the temple administration will be set up near Gundicha Temple, he added.