Bhubaneswar: An elaborate security and crowd management plan has been drawn up for Snana Purnima to be observed in Puri on June 29. With authorities expecting a massive turnout of devotees, the state govt, police and the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) have put in place comprehensive arrangements to ensure smooth conduct of the annual festival, during which Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra will be ceremonially bathed with 108 pitchers of sacred water, followed by the Hati Besha of the deities.Senior police officials, including ADG Soumendra Priyadarshi, IGP (central range) Satyajeet Nayak and SP (Puri) Prateek Singh, on Saturday reviewed security, crowd management and traffic arrangements to ensure the festival passes off without any untoward incident.Security deployment will be strengthened in and around the Jagannath temple, while elaborate crowd regulation measures, traffic diversions and emergency response systems will be put in place to facilitate movement of pilgrims.“Crowd management will be carried out both inside and outside the temple. At the same time, our focus will be on ensuring devotees get uninterrupted darshan of the deities on the Snana Bedi throughout the rituals,” Priyadarshi said. To streamline the movement of devotees and servitors, the temple has been divided into 14 sectors, with officials deployed in each sector.For the festival, four SP-rank officers/commandant, 14 ASPs/deputy commandant-rank officers, more than 35 DSPs, around 500 sub-inspectors and over 900 home guards will be deployed across the temple and the town from June 28 morning onwards, Priyadarshi said.As part of the surveillance plan, 152 CCTV cameras inside the temple, around 250 outside the shrine and another 30 on the road towards Market Chhak will monitor crowd movement.The roads leading directly to the Jagannath temple have been designated as no-vehicle zones. Devotees will be allowed to enter the shrine through the Lion’s Gate and exit through the North Gate to facilitate smooth crowd movement. Barricades with shaded waiting areas will be erected up to Market Chhak for the convenience of devotees.Traffic restrictions will also be enforced across Puri. SP (Puri) Prateek Singh said two-wheelers approaching from the Bhubaneswar side will be allowed to enter the town through Harekrushnapur Chhak and can be parked at the Market Complex and the old JBPC facility. Visitors heading towards the sea beach can park their vehicles near Digabareni.Parking will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at designated locations. Jagannath Ballav will serve as the primary parking area. Once it reaches capacity, vehicles will be diverted to the Jail Road parking facility. If that too becomes full, an additional temporary parking area will be opened at Saradha Bali.All inter-state buses bound for Puri will terminate at Malatipatapur. City buses will be stationed at Saradha Bali, while tourist buses will be diverted from Malatipatapur to Talabania. No buses will be allowed to enter the city during the festival.Similar traffic arrangements have also been made for vehicles approaching Puri from the Konark and Brahmagiri sides.
