Members in the second high level coordination committee for execution of vital infrastructure for the preparedness of the July 18 Nabakalebar Rath Yatra expressed concern over failure of several agencies. The meeting of the panel held on Saturday found that the ongoing drainage, laying of sewer network, drinking water pipelines and construction of city roads were far short of the target. Though the meeting directed the concerned engineers and officials to complete the work by July 8, the onset of monsoon has made it almost impossible to achieve the target.
Only silver line was ECoR Commercial Manager Tribikram Mishra’s information that the double tracking of the Khurda-Puri tracks has been completed and engine trial is successful. The passenger trains would ply on the tracks from July 1 onward. 200 trains would ply to Puri during the Rath Yatra with 15 to 30 minutes interval. For that two new platforms have been constructed in the Puri Railway Station. A huge parking lot in front of the station and a permanent pilgrim shelter are nearing completion, Mishra added.
The NHAI officials said the four- laning of the Puri- Bhubaneswar road has been completed and the railway over bridge at Samjajpur has been partially opened. They assured that by the time the festival begins both the over bridge roads would be made operational. Though the engineers promised to provide uninterrupted power supply to the city and the suburbs during the fete, the members who experience erratic power supply these days asked the engineers to ensure the supply properly. The PHD and PWD came in the firing line of the committee for poor execution of infrastructure development as their work fell far short of the given target. The temple officials informed the committee over progress in construction of three Rathas and preparedness for the fete.
Inspector General of Police RP Koche and Puri SP Asish Kumar Singh informed that 10,000 police personnel, including officers, would be deployed in and around the city to ensure safe and smooth conduct of the fete. About 200 CCTVs were being installed covering most part of the city to monitor the pilgrim crowd. Senior officers would be placed for the VVIP security and traffic management, Koche said. The meeting directed all the departments concerned with the infrastructure development including PWD to complete their work ten days before the fete. Nabakalebar infrastructure development body chairman and local MlA Maheswar Mohanty presided, while district Collector Arabind Agarwal presented the progress report. RDC Bikahs Mahapatra conducted the proceedings.