Odisha CM Majhi visits Puri to review Rath Yatra arrangements post-stampede

Puri: Following the death of three devotees in a stampede near Shree Gundicha Temple in Puri, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Tuesday reached the pilgrim town to review the arrangements made for the upcoming rituals related to Rath Yatra.

Majhi is scheduled to meet the stakeholders associated with the Rath Yatra activities, an official said.

After the stampede Sunday, the Chief Minister himself issued an apology to the devotees.

Majhi now wants to make sure that the remaining rituals, such as ‘Bahuda Yatra’ (return car festival), ‘Suna Besha’ (golden attire) and ‘Niladri Bije’ (deities’ entry to main temple) are completed smoothly.

Ahead of the Chief Minister’s visit, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan held a marathon discussion with the senior servitors and listened to their grievances, like restrictions on them to climb the chariots, housing issues and children’s education.

The Jagannath temple in Puri functions under the law department of the state government.

“We had a detailed discussion with the law minister on different issues. The servitors have apprised him that it has hurt them to get denied permission to climb chariots. The administration allows only on-duty servitors to the chariots. We have demanded that all should be allowed to climb the chariot to have ‘darshan’ of the deities,” leader of Khuntia servitors Hajari KC Khuntia told reporters.

Noting that the servitors have assured the law minister that they will complete all rituals according to tradition, Khuntia said that they are scheduled to meet the Chief Minister later in the evening.

Accompanied by the law minister, Majhi is also scheduled to hold a meeting with the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and others to ensure the smooth conduct of upcoming events, according to an official.

The CM aims to make the remaining part of the festival incident-free so that lakhs of devotees return home with a “feel good experience”, the official said.

Following the stampede incident, the state government has transferred both the district collector and SP from Puri and suspended two senior police officers on charges of dereliction of duty. The government also appointed other experienced officers to handle the Rath Yatra affairs.

Meanwhile, Development Commissioner Anu Garg began the administrative inquiry into the stampede on Monday.

She is mandated to submit the inquiry report within 30 days.

PTI

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