Bhubaneswar: A sea of devotees from Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and nearby areas streamed towards Puri on Friday night, turning the Bhubaneswar-Puri highway into a slow-moving ribbon of vehicles as pilgrims rushed for a glimpse of the deities after the chariots reached the Gundicha Temple.Relentless rain coupled with an extraordinary surge in vehicular traffic slowed movement along the route. While congestion was visible from Uttara Square in Bhubaneswar, traffic crawled for long stretches beyond Sakhigopal, with thousands of devotees inching their way towards the pilgrim town through the night.“It was raining heavily last night, so we were driving slowly like others. The slow movement affected traffic till early Saturday morning. We started our journey at 11 pm and reached Puri at 4 am. We were stuck for two hours between Chandanpur and Malatipatapur,” said Ajay Barik, a resident of Damana in Bhubaneswar.Subhonkar Patra of Hinjli, who travelled with friends, said they first reached Bhubaneswar on Friday evening before heading to Puri. “Our car slowed down after Sakhigopal. We had to wait near Malatipatapur for traffic clearance. We thought fewer people would travel at night, but I was wrong,” he said.Anticipating heavy pressure on roads, Odisha police continued issuing traffic advisories through its social media platforms from midnight and throughout Saturday. The Puri traffic control room also regularly updated commuters about the traffic situation on NH-316.Vehicles waited for nearly an hour at Malatipatapur around 12.15 am to enter Puri town. The waiting time increased to around 1.5 hours at 1 am and touched nearly two hours by 2 am as the inflow of vehicles continued unabated. After the situation somewhat eased during the first half of Saturday, traffic started swelling after 12 noon.“Very heavy inflow of vehicles from Uttara, Bhubaneswar, towards Puri. Waiting time at Malatipatapur and Batagaon is 1.5 to 2 hours at 1.36 am. All vehicles are being diverted to designated parking places. Devotees coming from Bhubaneswar are requested to wait for further updates before starting for Puri,” said an alert issued by the Puri Police traffic control room.As traffic volume swelled, authorities dynamically diverted vehicles towards Sterling and Talabania via the Malatipatapur flyover. Odisha police said traffic clearance and regulation remained its top priority. Vehicles returning from Talabania were advised to take the Konark route towards Bhubaneswar.Parking areas in Puri and its outskirts also came under immense pressure as thousands of vehicles poured into the city. Lots at Jagannath Ballav, Talabania, Samanga, Yatrika, Puri Jail Road and other designated locations filled up rapidly through the night.“We were prepared for such a situation. Our entire traffic wing and staff monitored vehicular movement throughout the night. We managed the traffic as per our plan and helped vehicles pass,” said Puri SP Prateek Singh.With the chariots taking two days to reach the Gundicha Temple, devotees got a rare extended opportunity to have darshan of the deities atop their majestic chariots on the Grand Road. Even on the third day of Rath Yatra, the deities remained on the chariots, drawing lakhs of devotees to the holy town.“The Adapa Bije ritual of the deities will be conducted on Saturday. The deities will be taken to the Gundicha Temple in a ceremonial pahandi on Saturday evening,” said Arabinda Padhee, chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration.
