Modifying the previous guidelines regarding the July 12 Rath Yatra here, the Puri district administration on Saturday announced that even residents of houses and buildings alongside the Bada Danda (Grand Road) would not be allowed to watch the Car Festival of Lord Jagannath from their terraces and balconies.
People would not be allowed to witness the festival from terraces and balconies of 41 lodges and dharmasalas and around 230 houses located alongside the Bada Danda as they come under the purview of curfew restrictions from July 11 night till July 12 afternoon, said district Collector Samarth Verma.
All lodges and dharmasalas would be vacated from July 10, said he.
Earlier at a meeting held between servitors and the district Collector on Friday, it had been decided that only family members of the houses and buildings alongside the Bada Danda could watch the festival from their respective terraces.
Besides, the Collector said that prohibitory orders under Section-144 of CrPC would be imposed on the Bada Danda to maintain law and order. The entire town would be divided into 12 zones, including four zones on the Bada Danda.
A detailed standard operating procedure (SOP) for the Rath Yatra would be issued later following a virtual meeting of the Chattisa Nijog and the temple management committee under the chairmanship of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Krishan Kumar.