BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday approved creation of a battalion consisting of 1,190 police personnel exclusively for security and crowd control at the Jagannath Temple in Puri.
According to the government, creation of the special security battalion (SSB) is a necessity in view of the massive transformation around the Jagannath Temple under the Shree Jagannath Parikrama project, which is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 17. Government said the makeover of the temple’s periphery would draw huge crowds in the future. Besides, Jagannath Temple is one of the high-security shrines in the country.
According to official sources, a 139-member police force was sanctioned for Puri temple in 2007. Police were forced to temporarily withdraw personnel from police stations and nearby districts to deal with crowds in the temple during festive occasions. Police sources said the existing number of personnel was inadequate to provide security to the temple, manage crowds and facilitate the darshan system.
Based on the feedback given by chairman 5T (transformational initiatives) and Nabin Odisha, V K Pandian after his consultation with different stakeholders, the chief minister approved the creation of the dedicated SSB.
The Jagannath temple draws thousands of devotees every day. In the post Covid period, the daily footfall of devotees touched about 50,000, whereas it doubles and triples during the weekends and on important religious occasions. The flow of devotees is likely to witness a substantial rise after the dedication of the new temple heritage corridor project to the public,” the CMO said.
The government said the new battalion’s primary responsibility will be to provide security. The personnel will be trained in crowd management and facilitation of devotees for hassle-free darshan. The SSB would be placed under the command and control of the Puri superintendent of police. “We welcome the government’s decision as there was a need to further strengthen the temple’s security. Earlier, the temple area was spread over 10 acres. Now after the Parikrama-led transformation, the shrine area has expanded to 32 acres,” IGP (central range) Ashish Singh said. TNN
According to the government, creation of the special security battalion (SSB) is a necessity in view of the massive transformation around the Jagannath Temple under the Shree Jagannath Parikrama project, which is scheduled to be inaugurated on January 17. Government said the makeover of the temple’s periphery would draw huge crowds in the future. Besides, Jagannath Temple is one of the high-security shrines in the country.
According to official sources, a 139-member police force was sanctioned for Puri temple in 2007. Police were forced to temporarily withdraw personnel from police stations and nearby districts to deal with crowds in the temple during festive occasions. Police sources said the existing number of personnel was inadequate to provide security to the temple, manage crowds and facilitate the darshan system.
Based on the feedback given by chairman 5T (transformational initiatives) and Nabin Odisha, V K Pandian after his consultation with different stakeholders, the chief minister approved the creation of the dedicated SSB.
The Jagannath temple draws thousands of devotees every day. In the post Covid period, the daily footfall of devotees touched about 50,000, whereas it doubles and triples during the weekends and on important religious occasions. The flow of devotees is likely to witness a substantial rise after the dedication of the new temple heritage corridor project to the public,” the CMO said.
The government said the new battalion’s primary responsibility will be to provide security. The personnel will be trained in crowd management and facilitation of devotees for hassle-free darshan. The SSB would be placed under the command and control of the Puri superintendent of police. “We welcome the government’s decision as there was a need to further strengthen the temple’s security. Earlier, the temple area was spread over 10 acres. Now after the Parikrama-led transformation, the shrine area has expanded to 32 acres,” IGP (central range) Ashish Singh said. TNN