Chief minister Naveen Patnaik reviews rath yatra arrangements at Collector’s Conference Hall in Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, June 22: All hoardings and mobile towers will be removed along the Grand Road in Puri to enable pilgrims to have a better glimpse of the Jagannath Temple during the rath yatra festival, which is expected to draw a crowd of 10 lakh devotees this year.

All precautionary measures will be taken to prevent stampede and other mishaps. While the devotees will not be allowed to come closer to the chariots, viewing of the grand spectacle from unsafe buildings will also be prohibited.

The district administration has so far identified 23 unsafe buildings on both sides of the Grand Road. However, nine of the house owners have obtained stay order on demolition.

“It has been decided that no pilgrims would be allowed to sit on unsafe buildings to witness the rath yatra. It has come to the administration’s notice that most of the house owners use these buildings in exchange of hefty sum from the devotees. We will not allow any tragic incidents to happen during the festival,” said an officer.

Steps would be taken to free Grand Road of encroachments. All roadside shops will be removed. The bulls will be taken away from the road, where sale of non-vegetarian items would be prohibited throughout the year. Earlier, the ban used to be in force during rath yatra.

The three wooden chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra will roll down the Grand Road, which leads to Mausima temple.

All the decisions were taken at a meeting, chaired by chief minister Naveen Patnaik at Puri today to review arrangements for the grand event, scheduled to begin from July 3.

“All arrangements have been made. Preparations for rath yatra are going on,” said the chief minister.

Naveen directed officials of various departments related to the rath yatra preparation to take foolproof arrangements for the festival.

For the first time, coir rope made by the Coir Corporation of Orissa will be used for pulling down the chariots. It has been estimated that 16 rolls of ropes will be required for the purpose.

In yet another major decision, the state government decided to hand over the ratna singhasana inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Jagannath Temple to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) during the ratha yatra for repair.

During the nine-day sojourn of the lords, the ASI workers would take up the repair works inside the temple.

It was decided that all the buildings would be painted with the ivory colour. “The process has already begun,” said official.

The state government also decided to make a formal request with the railway authorities to complete the doubling of rail tracks from Delanga to Puri by 2015 before the naba kalebara festival (change of idols of the three deities).