Bhubaneswar: In view of a heavy rush of devotees on Suna Besha day of Lord Jagannath and His siblings, district police made elaborate arrangements for better traffic management and crowd control in the pilgrim town for the mega religious event on Wednesday.
As per the advisory, one-way entry has been made for the devotees through barricade from Market Crossing. The devotees will enter in the mouth of the barricade at Market Crossing and will proceed towards Lions Gate in front of Goinka Dharmasala, Marchikote and Radha Ballav Math.
All the devotees will take a right turn by the side of Nandighosh Rath and move in front of all the three chariots and will have darshan of the trinities and exit through the passage in between Aruna Stambh and Taladwaja Rath towards Market Crossing through the western side of the Grand Road, the advisory issued by the police stated.
The devotees coming from the eastern side of the Grand Road i.e from Netaji Crossing to Subash Crossing in the Lanes and By-lanes, particularly from Dolamandapsahi Road , Marchikote Lane, LabanikhiaChhak, Chudapati Lane will not be allowed to come straight to Grand Road. The devotees coming in the above road will diverted to VIP Road from the respective crossing i.e. MochiSahiChhak, Girls School Chhak, Old Sadar PS Chhak, Janhi Mundia Chhak, LabaniKhai Chhak, Jaduani Library Chhak to reach Hospital crossing via VIP Road.
There after they will proceed towards Market Crossing to enter into barricade. The devotees coming from Western side i.e. from Brahmagiri Side, Mangalaghata, Markandeswar Sahi, Mishra Sahi, Chudangasahi, Hadagodia Sahi will be diverted in the respective crossing to come to Market Crossing via Jagannath Ballav, Shani Temple Lane and Shree Krushna Cinema Lane to entered into the barricade to move with main flow of devotees.
Similarly, the devotees coming from the back side of Temple i.e. Bali Sahi, Dhana KutiSahi, Mani Kankikasahi, Harachandisahi, BaseliSahi and Lokanath Road will be diverted in the important crossing like Kakudikhai, Ganduachaura, to Market Crossing via Jagannath Ballav, Shani Temple Lane and Shree Krushna Cinema Lane to enter into the barricade to move with the main flow of devotees.
For the convenience of devotees, signboards have been places to identify places, crossings and way to Bada Danda.
The police have also issued a 24×7 helpline number- 112, 6370967100 & 6370972100 to assist devotees.
“We have also identified the pressure points. We will not allow cross flow which raises possibilities of stampede. Our only intention is to ensure a hassle-free event. We request all the devotees to cooperate with police for better service,” Puri SP Pinak Mishra said.
Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain said that the administration has expected more footfall than the last year. Around 10 lakh devotees had congregated last year. Arrangements have been made for the devotees more than that of last year.
