Puri: The district administration would address various issues with regard to sanitation, drinking water and power supply for the upcoming Rath Yatra by June 25.
This was revealed by the officials at the second coordination meeting for Rath Yatra here Wednesday. Revenue divisional Commissioner (RDC) Anil Samal presided over the meeting.
Participating in the meeting, Srimandir administrator (rituals) Biswajit Biswal said the Shree Jagannath Administration had a surplus of 195 logs from the construction of chariots for last year’s Rath Yatra. The temple administration requires 670 logs for building chariots for this year’s Car Festival. “We have so far received 646 logs from Nayagarh and Boudh forest divisions. The remaining 24 logs would soon reach the SJTA office,” Biswal said.
According to Biswal, Maharana servitors (carpenters) have constructed four wheels each for three chariots by Tuesday evening. “We have asked Odisha Coir Corporation to supply 12 ropes for pulling of the chariots and other purposes during Rath Yatra. The coir corporation has prepared six ropes and would prepare the remaining ropes by the first week of June,” Biswal said.
Puri Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) Ramchandra Rout said they have been distributing chlorine tablets among people to purify water. However, many social activists, who were present at the meeting, rejected the CDMO’s claim.
Inspector General of Police Soumendra Priyadarshi asked the CDMO to distribute adequate chlorine tablets among the residents of Holy City.
Some social activists also expressed displeasure over poor infrastructure at the Puri district headquarters hospital. They claimed that several essential equipment including the X-ray machine and sodium and potassium testing machine have been lying defunct at the DHH. Expressing concern over the issue, the RDC asked the CDMO to take immediate steps to improve infrastructure at the hospital.
Drinking Water Supply department officials told the meeting that they would provide round-the-clock service to people during Rath Yatra. They claimed that nine out of 11 overhead tanks in the Holy City have been made functional after restoration work. “Two overhead tanks have been badly damaged by cyclonic storm Fani. We need more time to restore the tanks,” said an official.
Many intellectuals targeted the district administration and the municipal body of the city for their failure to remove garbage and silt from drains. They also alleged that civic authorities have failed to remove solid waste from many localities of the city after the May 3 cyclone.
Collector Balwant Singh assured in the meeting that the administration would complete drain desilting prior to the arrival of monsoon.
Officials of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) told the gathering that they would carry out all repairing work of Bhubaneswar-Puri National Highway within a few days.