Puri: In order to effectively manage traffic snarls, the makeshift shops on Badadanda in front of Lord Jagannath temple in Puri town will remain closed for five days during Panchuka in Holy Kartik month. This was informed today by District Collector Samarth Verma.
The grand road will be barricaded starting from Lion’s Gate (Singha Dwar) up to Marichikote Chhak to facilitate a smooth Darshan of the Holy Trinity by hundreds of devotees and tourists. The vehicular movement will be ceased from Market Chhak in the town, Collector Verma added.
Volunteers will be deployed in three shifts to control the crowd. Besides, temporary toilets have been set up alongside the Grand Road for use by the devotees, and information on traffic management is being provided on public address systems. Moreover, the provision of pure drinking water has been made at each rest shed. Thirty more platoons of force will deployed during Panchuka to step up the security arrangements and for smooth Darshan, the Collector expressed.
Worth mentioning, Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief Administrator Ranjan Kumar Das yesterday advised elderly and ailing persons not to visit the 12th Century Vaishnavite shrine during a huge rush, after drawing flak from various quarters over crowd management.
The God is omnipresent and can be invoked by devotees from any place. Feeble and weak persons should refrain from having Darshan of the Holy Trinity, the SJTA chief administrator stated.