“There will be no extension of the Baliyatra for Sunday as Saturday is the last day of this year’s festival,” said Cuttack district Collector Sushant Mohapatra while trying to clear air on rumours that the festival has been extended by another day.
Initially, the festival, which was inaugurated on November 4, was to end on November 10. But on public demand, the Government had extended it to November 11. However, as the festival continued incident-free and successfully drawing heavy crowds, the traders hoped that it would be extended.
Sources said that as the police forces deployed for the Baliyatra would get back to their base camps on Sunday for they would be moving soon to Gujarat for elections there next month, the district administration decided not to extend the festival.
Police sources said that on an average over three lakh revellers visited the festival grounds every day.