Chief minister Naveen Patnaik oversees the rath yatra preparations in Puri on Saturday. Picture by Sarat Patra

Cuttack, June 29: A PIL has been filed in Orissa High Court seeking direction to preserve the rath yatra chariots in order to save the dwindling population of various trees that are felled in large numbers to build the cars every year.

Secretary of the Odisha Rationalist Society Debendra Sutar has sought the high court intervention. “Instead of dismantling and disposing of the chariots, the same should be reused in subsequent years with necessary repairs till it perishes,” the petition, filed yesterday through advocate Kshirod Rout, said.

Felling of huge number of rare trees for construction of the chariots in Puri every year goes against the spirit of the Environment (Protection) Act and the Forest (Conservation) Act, the PIL contends.

The suggestion for construction of permanent chariots for the rath yatra in Puri or reusing some timber in subsequent years is not new.

More than three decades ago, the Shri Jagannath Temple Administration Improvement Committee, headed by the then governor B.D. Sharma, in its report said: “We suggest that with proper materials and more efficient workmanship permanent raths should be constructed.”

“They can be preserved near the Gundichaghar. Necessary arrangement should be made for their protection and preservation. Every year, before the car festival, a fresh coat of paint should be given. The textile materials for the raths should of course be changed every year. The thrones on the raths may even be constructed anew every year,” the report said.

The nine-member committee included, among others, Harekrushna Mahtab, Biswanath Das, Nityananda Kanungo, Radhanath Rath and Justice Harihar Mohapatra.

Two years ago, the state forest department had sent a proposal to the Jagannath temple administration to reuse some of the timber used for the construction of the chariots to save the trees’ dwindling population. But, the priests had opposed saying that it would break an age-old tradition.