Security guards near the Dhauli peace pagoda and a sign board on the road to Dhauli. Pictures by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Nov 17: The authorities have finally woken up to the need to ensure safety and security at Dhauli — both at the popular tourist spot and on the road to the peace pagoda.

The Dhauli Development Committee has employed 20 guards to ensure 24x7 security in and around the monument located on Dhauli hills, while the public works department (PWD) has put up 30 signboards to ensure that motorists do not lose their way. The signposts guide drivers to spot branch roads and no-parking zones. Speed breakers have also been installed to curb accidents at the mishap-prone turn near the Ashokan rock edict.

The development follows a series of reports in The Telegraph on the need for a new parking policy and use of battery-operated vehicles in and around Dhauli. While a report on possibility of use of battery operated vehicles to curb mishaps was published on October 20, another report on the status of the Dhauli crafts bazaar and how it has become the haunt of goons appeared on October 11.

On October 9, a tourist died in an accident on the hill. Four were killed in two other mishaps in February 2012.

Tourist officer and Dhauli Development Committee secretary Sashanka Rath said: “The safety of tourists is our top priority and for that we had a series of discussions with the PWD. They have added 30 signboards from near the NH-203 to the parking area near the pagoda. The signboards mention speed limits, cattle zones, meeting points of side roads, speed humps, direction marks and no-parking zones. The signs glow in the dark.”

The Dhauli Development Committee monitors tourism activities in and around Dhauli. While the district collector of Khurda is its chairman, the local tourist officer acts as its secretary.

Speaking to The Telegraph Rath said: “We have deployed 20 security guards in three shifts with seven each in the first two and six in the last shift. The first shift starts at 6am. The security guards will not only keep a tab on the tourists near the pagoda, but monitor all the activities of visitors around the hills.”

The guards were selected from youths in the nearby villages. “We have asked them to keep a tab on people with suspicious activities and request youths to keep off jungle patches to avoid snakebites and accidents,” said a tourism official.

Sipu Das, a visitor, said: “It is nice to see security guards have started working at one of the most important tourist spots of the city. The authorities should now install lights in and around the hill so that visitors can come and spend time without worrying about their safety.”

The tourist officer also said that the dispute over the two toll gates would be resolved shortly with the tourism director writing to the government to combine them.