There are over 40,000 Phasi trees in the Khandapada forest which would meet the timber requirements for the annual construction of three Raths for hundreds of years, announced law and Panchayati Raj Minister Arun Sahu at the 3rd Rath Yatra Coordination Committee meeting held on the Thursday.
A huge population of Phasi trees has been found on the banks of Kusumi river in Kahndapada. The trees were getting scarce over the last decade and the administration was worried over it. The law Minister said Boudh and Kandhamal forest divisions were asked to provide seasoned Asan and Dhaura timber logs which were also running short.
The meeting discussed about the progress made for the hosting of the annual Car Festival of lord Jagannath and his siblings scheduled for July 6. District Collector Arabind Agarwal apprised the committee about the preparedness of the various departments while the temple Chief Administrator informed the meeting about steady progress in construction of chariots and other affairs in the temple.
The committee asked all the departments like PWD, PHD, NHAI, drainage, sewerage and the civic body to complete their work before
June 30. Railway officials informed that 148 trains would ply to Puri from Rath Yatra to Sunavesh Day while 36 ticket booking counters would function to cater to the needs of the pilgrims.
The Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO) informed that steps were afoot to fill up all vacant posts of medicos and support staff while a number of first aid centers and ambulances would be pressed into service.
Hundreds of life guards would be deployed at all the holy water bodies of the city, including the sea beach, to prevent drowning. Essential commodities like kerosene would be made available for the residents to meet the need. The Cesco informed that the entire city would be provided with uninterrupted power supply while the Badadanda would be illuminated, besides the sea beach.
SP Sarthak Sarangi informed that keeping in view closure of the Samjajpur railway over bridge, steps had been taken to regulate all vehicular traffic through one way system and for that another road at the level crossing had been developed.
These apart, the health and hygiene, sanitation, supply of potable water and regulation of pilgrim traffic were subjects of discussion.
Transport Minister Ramesh Chandra Majhi, Housing and Urban Development Minister Puspendra Singhdeo, Food Supply and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma, Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, Puri MlA and Nabakalebar Infrastructure Development Monitoring Committee chief Maheswar Mohanty, Zilla Parishad president Dibakar Patra, Additional Director General of Police Satyajit Mohanty and IGP RP Koche participated. law Minister Sahu presided. The final meeting would be chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
On the day, Congress youths staged a demonstration near the coordination committee meeting venue protesting against the irregularities in implementation of the projects for the last year’s Nabakalebar festival.