Paradip: The Puri coast will come under massive air and maritime security blanket to ensure the safety of lakhs of devotees during the rath yatra in the pilgrim town, coast guard officials said here on Thursday.

Sea-route security patrol is already underway off the Puri coast. It will be further intensified from Friday. The rath yatra festival will begin on July 14 and it is expected that lakhs of devotees would congregate in the pilgrim town to witness the event. The coast guard has stepped up its coastal safety mechanism in the wake of the event, the official said. Coast guard ships and aircraft are being pressed into service in a multi-layer security cover off the Puri coast for the rath yatra. Both air and coastal surveillance will continue up to 50 nautical miles off the Puri coast, he said.

The air surveillance will be maintained from a Dornier aircraft over the pilgrim town. At least two coast guard ships will be deployed for round-the-clock patrolling to avert possible sea-route subversive activities. The coast guard will act in cohesion with marine wing of the state police for shallow water patrolling, said another official. A senior official of Odisha police said that the Rapid Action Force and bomb disposal squads were also kept on alert to avert untoward occurrences.

Liquor attack

A group of women destroyed foreign liquor worth lakhs of rupees at Karanpali village in Bhadrak district while it was being illegally transported in an SUV on Wednesday night. The liquor was being smuggled from Basudevpur to Dhamra area in the district, sources said.