Puri, Nov. 10: Sri Jagannath Surakshya Abhiyan was launched today from the 12th century shrine here to retrieve lands belonging to Lord.

The yatra will cover 30 districts of the state to appeal to people to come forward and retrieve the land. Convenor of the yatra Uma Ballabha Rath appealed to all Jagannath devotees to join the movement to “retrieve the Jagannath land and protect his properties”.

Leaders from the BJP and the Congress attended the yatra launch.

The abhiyan aims to appeal people to contribute money to the movement. “We plan to collect nearly Rs 10 crore and donate it to the temple. Rituals will be conducted out of the money collected from the devotees,” said Rath, former MLA of Puri.

“We will collect funds in the form of cheques and bank drafts addressed to the Jagannath temple. A donation box to collect coins will be locked properly. We have also requested the Puri superintendent of police and the temple administration to seal the collection box. The objective is to create consciousness among all Oriyas to contribute money for the Lord,” he said.