Puri set to carry second devotee-less Ratha Jatra; curfew imposed for 2 days

By PTI
PURI: As countdown begins for the second consecutive devotees-less Ratha Jatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri, the district administration imposed curfew from 8 PM of Sunday for 2 days, official sources stated.

The administration imposed curbs throughout the 3-km lengthy Grand Road from Shree Jagannath Temple to Sri Gunducha Temple the place all actions excluding medical emergencies are prohibited.

As many as 65 platoons (1 platoon comprise 30 personnel) had been deployed for the sleek conduct of the Lords annual competition amidst prevailing COVID-19 pandemic.

Pulling of the holy chariots will begin at 3 pm Monday.

The safety forces may even be deployed on the roof tops of various buildings on each side of the grand highway in an effort to make sure that individuals don’t congregate in giant quantity to witness the competition from the residential homes, lodges, lodges and visitor homes.

Though there was no such restrictions on the individuals witnessing the Ratha Jatra from roof tops final yr, the administration this time banned such follow after it got here to the discover that some lodges, lodges and visitor homes ebook rooms with provision of permitting individuals to witness the competition from the roof prime.

Even some native individuals had been discovered to have invited their family members and associates to permit them to see the competition from their homes.

Puri district collector Samarth Verma stated that the persons are urged to not come out of their residences throughout the curfew interval from 8 PM of Sunday until 8 PM of Tuesday and make crowd on the grand highway.

The measure is taken conserving in view the general public well being and to examine unfold of an infection amongst residents.

He stated individuals can witness the competition on their TV units as the federal government has made association to present freed from value feed to completely different channels and internet portals.

Meanwhile, chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Krishan Kumar formally prolonged invitation to Jagadguru Sankaracharya of Puri Govardhan Peeth, Swami Nischalananda Saraswati to go to the Lords on chariots as per custom earlier than they’re pulled.

The Sankaracharya has accepted the invitation and he’ll come to Rath Jatra on Monday along with his six of his disciples, the SJTA head stated.

As the three chariots- Lord Balabhadras Taladwaja, Lord Jagannaths Nadighosh and Devi Subhadras Darpadalan, are able to roll on the grand highway, Director General of Police, Abhay reviewed the safety preparations and he too appealed all together with the individuals of Puri to cooperate in implementation of the curfew orders in public curiosity.

“With the cooperation of the residents of Puri and blessing of Lord Jagannath, all the rituals are underway smoothly so far. We hope the mega festival will be undertaken tomorrow peacefully in compliance with all SOPs,” stated Puri SP Kanwar Vishal Singh.

He stated all of the lanes and by-lanes in Puri city are barricaded and satisfactory police forces have been deployed.

All the entry level to Puri city have been sealed to make sure none can enter the grand highway when the competition is happening.

Earlier within the day, the three gigantic chariots had been pulled to the Lion Gate (Singhadwara) of Srimandir after the ‘Agyan Mala’ (order from the Lord) reached Ratha Khala.

SJTA chief stated solely servitors will probably be allowed to drag the chariots and no one different together with safety personnel will probably be allowed to the touch the ropes.

The chariot pulling is scheduled to begin from 3 PM of Monday after the Puri king, Gajapati Maharaja Divyasngha Deb carry out the rituals of Chhera Pahra (sweeping of chariot).

The procession of the sibling deities will start at 8 am, he stated including that the programme could also be superior because the servitors are absolutely cooperating with the administration.

About 8,000 individuals together with servitors, securitymen, SJTA officers,district administration officers, media individuals and others have undergone RT-PCR take a look at earlier than the competition.

“Only COVID-19 negative persons will be allowed to participate in the festival,” he stated.

As sustaining social distancing will not be attainable in such a mega competition as extra peoples participation is required for procession of the deities, the administration has ensured that solely COVId-19 damaging individuals and people absolutely vaccinated be allowed to participate, an official stated.

The preparations have been made for offering well being care to for the servitors who will pull the chariots.

A inexperienced hall is created for the emergency scenario, he stated.

Meanwhile, the district administration of Kendrapada Sunday additionally imposed prohibitory order beneath part 144 of CrPC to make sure clean conduct of the Rath Jatra rituals contained in the temple.

The prohibitory order is imposed from 9 PM of Sunday until 9 PM of Monday alongside the Bada Danda in an effort to stop individuals coming into Shree Baladevjew temple space.

The restriction will probably be pressure from Shree Baldevjew temple to Mausi Maa temple, the native administration stated in a notification.

The Rath Yatra rituals will probably be carried out contained in the temple,it stated.

The order is important in view of the rising demand for conduct of Rath Jatra in Kendrapara additionally as carried out in Puri adhering to the COVID-19 protocol.

A bit of individuals had filed petitions within the Supreme Court demanding permission to carry Ratha Jatra in Kendrapara.

However, the apex court docket refused to intervene within the determination of the state authorities throughout the pandemic scenario.

The state on Sunday registered 65 COVID-19 fatalities, the highest-ever in a single day, pushing the toll to 4,599, whereas 2,282 new instances raised the tally to 9,39,752, a well being division official stated.

Fourteen contemporary fatalities had been reported from Khurda district, of which state capital Bhubaneswar is a component, six every from Puri, Keonjhar and Bargarh, 5 every from Angul and Mayurbhanj, 4 from Nayagarh and three from Sundargarh, Kendrapara and Ganjam.

One individual every succumbed to the an infection in Balasore, Bolangir, Boudh, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Sambalpur.

Taking to Twitter, the Health and Family Welfare division stated, “This list does not reflect deaths occurring on a particular day. It gives details of past deaths for which the audit process has been duly completed and the cause of death has been identified as due to COVID-19.”

Khurda district has up to now reported the utmost variety of COVID-19 fatalities at 756, whereas Deogarh in western Odisha registered the minimal of 35 deaths because of the an infection, the official stated.

Fifteen districts within the state have reported 100 or extra COVID deaths, he stated.

Fifty-three different coronavirus-positive sufferers have additionally died as a consequence of comorbidities, the official stated.

Of the brand new instances, 1,315 had been reported from quarantine centres and the remaining 967 detected throughout contact tracing.

Khurda district registered the best variety of contemporary instances at 592, adopted by Cuttack (289) and Balasore (146).

Odisha now has 25,461 lively instances, whereas 3,120 extra individuals had been cured of the illness on Saturday, taking the overall variety of recoveries to 9,09,639.

The state has carried out over 1.44 crore pattern exams for COVID-19, together with 78,466 on Saturday, and the positivity ratio stands at 6.45 per cent.