People cross the Dhabaleswar Jhoola. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Nov. 13: Dhabaleswar Jhoola, the longest suspension bridge in the country, is currently under pressure of thousands of feet as pilgrims are crossing it to reach Dhabaleshwar Shiv temple and celebrate Panchuka at the end of the holy month of Kartika.

To save the oldest link to Dhabaleswar island and ensure the safety of devotees, a technical team has been rushed to the 254m hanging bridge, while the administration, on November 9, imposed restrictions on the number of pilgrims allowed to cross the bridge at a time, to reduce the pressure.

Every year, in the month of Kartika, lakhs throng to Dhabaleswar, a Shiv temple in Orissa. Like Maharashtra’s modak, Dhabaleswar’s ganja bhog — made from marijuana leaf — is a hit among pilgrims. This year, the bhog was offered at dawn after Bada Ossa celebrations were completed on November 11 midnight.

More than 2 lakh devotees are expected to walk across the bridge and return after the festival on November 15.

The bridge constructed to bear the load of 1,500 people was commissioned in October 2006 to facilitate pilgrims’ movement to Dhabaleswar, 25km from Cuttack.

Recently, the authorities decided to allow 50 per cent less load, as the bridge showed definite signs of weakness.

The bridge starts from the bank of an island on the Mahanadi and connects Nuapatna-Mancheswar near Athagarh. “We are now allowing not more than 800 persons at a time in a row to ensure the pilgrim and bridge’s safety,” said R.P. Patil, the sub-collector of Athagarh. The administration has also beefed up security at the temple to prevent possibilities of a stampede.

The Cuttack (rural) superintendent of police, Niranjan Swain, said, 14 platoons of armed police have been deployed for the five day Panchuka festival. Besides, 45 police officers and 85 home guards have been pressed into service at the shrine.

For those pilgrims crossing over from the Bidanasi side in Cuttack the district administration has pressed into service 40 boats. “Five power boats are closely monitoring their movement and passenger intake to stave off any untoward incident”, Swain added.