Cuttack, June 5: The Justice Bimal Prasad Das Commission has decided to wait for the conclusion of this year's rath yatra in Puri before forming an opinion on crowd management measures during different phases of the festival.
The nine-day festival is to begin on June 25.
The one-man commission of inquiry, which was appointed by the state government to bring in reforms into the functioning of the 12th century temple, has decided to examine CCTV footage for the purpose.
The rath yatra of Lord Jagannath in Puri is considered the biggest and most colourful festival in the world with more than 10 lakh devotees gathering in the temple town to take part. It begins with snana yatra (bathing festival) before the sojourn of the deities to Gundicha ghara for nine days. Its conclusion begins with the bahuda yatra (return rath yatra) and finally ends with niladri bije (return of the deities to the temple).
"The safety and security of devotees for hassle-free darshan of the deities and maintenance of law and order inside and outside the temple is a priority area for the commission. As a result, it has sought footage of all CCTV cameras installed both inside and outside the temple," commission secretary B.P. Parija told The Telegraph today.
"Accordingly, the commission has issued a communication to the Puri superintendent of police to submit the footage after the chariot festival concludes," he said.
Lakhs of devotees throng Puri during the nine-day festival, keeping the police and administration on their toes.
"The commission expects CCTV footage from the five phases (snan yatra, rath yatra, bahuda yatra, suna vesha and niladri bije) of the festival to assess whether there is need for modification in the steps adopted for crowd management and ensuring safety of the devotees who congregate in such large numbers," Parija said.
"The commission also expects the footage of the 70 CCTV cameras inside the temple in addition to footages from the 130 cameras installed outside along the stretch to the Gundicha temple," he added.
