Apprehending aerial terror threat to the Shree Jagannath temple at Puri, a PIl was filed in the Odisha High Court on Friday seeking judicial intervention for declaring the temple area as a ‘no flying zone’. Social activist and lawyer Nishikant Mishra in his petition urged the court to direct the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to take immediate steps in this direction and also declare the Grand Road (Badadanda) of the temple town as a ‘no flying zone’ temporarily during the Rath Yatra.
Stating that the DGCA had turned down a similar request by the State Government last year on the ground that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken a policy decision not to create any more ‘no flying zone’, Mishra alleged that the civil aviation regulatory body seems to be adopting double standard on the issue. When the Thirumalla Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, the Taj Mahal in Agra and the Tower of Silence in Mumbai could come under ‘no flying zone’, why the same preventive measures cannot be extended for the Puri temple, Mishra questioned.
He also questioned that when the Shivaji Park in Central Mumbai and the Rajpath in New Delhi could come under ‘no flying zone’ temporarily during the Republic Day celebrations this year, why the Grand Road in Puri would not get the same security cover during the Rath Yatras, particularly for the Nabakalebar festival this year.
Making both Central and State Governments as respondents to the PIl, Mishra has also alleged that neither the State Government nor the local civil administration at Puri is well-prepared to prevent any possible aerial terror attack in view of a video clipping that went viral in social media last year showing aerial view of the temple.