With 50,00,000 devotees expected to arrive in the coastal town of Puri during Rath Yatra, the Odisha government is gearing up to prevent possible disaster that could result in significant loss of lives.
Officials heading line departments including police, water resource, energy, health and transport will be informed about their roles during the crisis period at Puri on Monday.
“The Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) has prepared Standard Operating Procedure by compiling inputs from different departments. Officials will be briefed about SOP and directed to step up preparedness for the mega religious event,” said G.V.V Sarma, Managing Director of OSDMA, here on Sunday.
Mr. Sarma said central government agencies such as Indian Railways and National Disaster Response Force which have critical roles during the festival will also remain present in the meeting.
“Line departments were previously asked to identify critical areas and duties those could be assigned to them during crisis period. The orientation is aimed at fine-turning their preparedness. They will be asked to start conducting exercises at their level,” OSDMA MD said.
He said an integrated mock drill involving all departments, including police and Indian Railways is likely to be conducted on July 10, about a week before the Rath Yatra.
The Nabakalebara disaster management plan has been prepared keeping in mind arrival of minimum 30 lakh devotees to Puri.
The State government had taken steps to strengthen basic infrastructure linked with Puri even as the progress on infrastructure development was found to be very slow. Roads have been widened, railway line has been doubled and flyovers have been constructed to facilitate pilgrimage of devotees.
A senior police official said the biggest challenge before the administration is crowd management and evacuation.
‘An integrated mock drill involving all departments, including police and Indian Railways is likely to be conducted on July 10’
Prasanta Patnaik