Preparations under way for Bali yatra in Cuttack on Sunday.

Vendors from outside the state have already started to arrive for Bali yatra, which will begin on Wednesday. Therefore, the process for allotting land to new vendors has begun today.

"We hope the district administration comes up with a single-window system to ensure that the traders, who are from outside, are allotted space at one place," said K. Kameswar Rao, a trader from Andhra Pradesh.

Rao said at present the administration was giving preference to the vendors who had set up kiosks last year. Over 900 such traders have already booked spaces in the past week. "The administration should make adequate provisions for new applicants from outside the state as the weeklong fair generates revenues of over Rs 100 crore," he said.

District administration officials said nearly 1,500 kiosks were expected to be set up this time against 1,400 last year as the fair would be hosted on 15,000sqft of extra land.

"We have set up two temporary kiosks to streamline the land allotment process and hope that all the area will be booked by November 24," said tehsildar Abani Patnaik.

District administration and police held a meeting on Saturday to review the ongoing construction work.

The police this year have focused on better crowd management by creating extra space between rows. Moreover, they have also increased security and made arrangements for adequate parking space.

"We have decided to set up an integrated control room where all the officials of Cuttack Municipal Corporation, fire services and other agencies would be deployed so that prompt action can be taken in case of any emergency situation," said police commissioner R.P. Sharma. A special squad will be formed to keep tabs on trouble mongers, he said. It will monitor their activities while adequate CCTV cameras would be installed at strategic locations.

The cops have also asked the district administration officials to ensure that the parking lot owners display the rates and other signages. Senior officials said since there was already a rush at the fair ground with the arrival of traders from outside the state, the police have intensified night patrolling since last night.

Picture by Ashwinee Pati