- Sunday, July 07, 2024
Chief minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday reviewed the security preparedness for the mega religious event at a meeting which was attended by various top officials.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE 147th edition of the annual Rath Yatra (chariot festival) of Lord Jagannath will take place on Sunday (7) in Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat where more than 18,000 security personnel will be deployed to guard the event which draws millions of devotees, officials said.
Senior police officials will keep a close watch on the procession using 1,733 body-worn cameras linked to a control room.
Besides, 20 drones and 96 surveillance cameras have been installed at 47 locations on the route, an official release said on Wednesday (3).
Read: WATCH: Bengaluru’s other ‘Rath Yatra’; citizens pull bus, broken down under water in heavy rains
Nearly 1,400 CCTV cameras installed by shopkeepers on the route will also be used for live surveillance, it said.
Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel on Wednesday reviewed the security preparedness for the mega religious event at a meeting which was attended by various officials including the minister of state for home affairs, Harsh Sanghavi, and director general of police Vikas Sahay.
Read: Tripura: 6 killed, 15 injured as Rath at chariot festival comes into contact with electric wire
Ahmedabad’s police commissioner GS Malik made an elaborate presentation during the meeting on various security aspects of the Rath Yatra, said the release.
He informed Patel that as many as 18,784 security personnel, including inspector general of police (IGP)-rank officers, will be deployed on the 16 kilometre route in Ahmedabad for the Yatra.
Of these, 4,500 personnel will walk with the procession on the entire route while 1,931 personnel will be deployed for traffic management, said the release.
To address any medical emergency, 16 ambulances and medical teams at five government-run hospitals will remain on stand-by.
Also, 17 help desks will be set up on the entire route to help citizens, it said.
As per the decades-old tradition, the procession, led by chariots, would start early at around 7 am from the 400-year-old Lord Jagannath temple in Jamalpur area and return by 8 pm after traversing different localities in the Old City, including some communally sensitive areas.
The procession usually consists of 18 decorated elephants, 100 trucks and 30 ‘akhadas’ (local gymnasiums).
The raths of Lord Jagannath, his brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra will be pulled by Khalashi community members as per the age-old tradition. Lakhs of people gather on both sides of the route to have a glimpse of the deities.
(With PTI inputs)
