Puri, Jul 4: With the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath approaching, the Odisha Government has stepped up security preparations, placing a strong focus on ensuring "Zero Casualty" during the world-renowned festival that attracts lakhs of devotees from across the country and abroad.
Ahead of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi's review of Rath Yatra arrangements in Puri, Director General of Police (DGP) Yogesh Bahadur Khurania on Friday chaired a high-level security review meeting at the office of the Puri Superintendent of Police.
The meeting reviewed the overall law and order situation, crowd management plan, traffic regulation, emergency response mechanism and security arrangements to ensure the smooth conduct of the festival.
Briefing the media, DGP Khurania said more than 12,000 police personnel would be deployed across Puri during the Rath Yatra. The security setup will include over 200 police platoons, personnel from the Rapid Action Force (RAF), National Security Guard (NSG), specialised security units and Home Guards stationed at strategic locations throughout the pilgrim town.
He urged devotees to cooperate with the administration and strictly follow the traffic advisory issued by the police to ensure seamless movement of pilgrims and effective crowd control.
Reiterating the government's commitment to a safe and incident-free Rath Yatra, the DGP expressed confidence that coordinated efforts by all departments, coupled with public cooperation, would help ensure the grand festival concludes peacefully and without any untoward incidents.
The high-level review meeting was attended by Additional DGPs R.P. Koche, Soumendra Priyadarshi, Arun Bothra, Sanjay Kumar, Amitabh Thakur and Rajesh Kumar, besides the Central Range Inspector General of Police and other senior police officers.
