A day ahead of the first-ever Rath Yatra in Digha on Friday, hotel occupancy in the seaside town dropped drastically, apparently over concerns of surging room rates and overcrowding during the festival.
“Most hotels in Digha have only 10 per cent occupancy. Due to the police-imposed no-entry restrictions for Rath Yatra, small cars are not being allowed to ply in Digha. Buses are running in limited numbers. Many tourists have been discouraged from coming over fears that some unscrupulous hotel owners would charge excessively high room rents during the festival,” said Bipradas Chakraborty, joint secretary of the Digha-Shankarpur Hoteliers’ Association.
According to him, since the inauguration of Jagannath Dham in Digha, the area saw a surge in tourism, with booking demand rising to four times the usual. But soon, many hoteliers hiked their room tariffs — some even doubling rates — for extra profit, which discouraged a large number of tourists.
Multiple bus operators also acknowledged a drop in passengers now compared to the surge witnessed after the temple’s inauguration on April 30 this year.
“Till even last week, most seats were booked on buses from Calcutta to Digha. Currently, only 25 per cent seats are booked by Digha-bound persons, the rest of the seats are being boarded by local passengers going to Contai or Khejuri,” said Santanu Maity, joint secretary of the Digha United Bus Operators’ Association.
Amid complaints of overpriced hotel rooms, East Midnapore district magistrate Purnendu Maji has issued a fine of ₹1 lakh on hoteliers found to charge more than the standard rate.
However, some hotel and bus owners claimed the low footfall was also due to the closure of the temple premises since last week for Snan Yatra rituals. The temple reopened to tourists on Thursday.
“We believe the drop in visitors was mainly because the Jagannath temple was closed,” said one bus owner.
A tourist pointed out that the major inconvenience during Rath Yatra was the halt in transport services like totos (e-rickshaws) and autos, which visitors usually rely on to visit nearby beaches such as Udaypur, Shankarpur and Tajpur.
The administration, anticipating a crowd of over two lakh visitors during Rath Yatra, has taken several crowd control measures. An official said thousands are expected to arrive from various districts across Bengal from early Friday. In addition, thousands of residents from the area are also expected to gather in Digha for the event.
However, a senior official remarked: “It would actually be better if the turnout remains low, as an excessively large crowd could lead to a stampede-like situation.”
Mamata on barricades
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that barricades would be set up on both sides of the road to avoid the risk of any stampede.
“It is very difficult to manage a massive crowd. However, I welcome people to come. So, we’ve decided to keep the crowd behind barricades placed on either side of the road. People will not be allowed to walk alongside the chariots once they start rolling,” said Mamata.
The three chariots, built in the traditional style of Puri’s 12th-century shrine, will be stationed near the temple premises, where pilgrims can offer prayers from 9am on Friday.
“The Raths will begin their journey at 2.30pm and will cover less than a kilometer to reach Masir Bari,” Mamata said, adding that pilgrims standing behind the barricades would be able to touch the sacred rope connected to the chariots.