West Bengal: Preparations on, security beefed up for Digha Rath Yatra
Kolkata: Major preparations have been made and security beefed up in Digha, the coastal town of Bengal, where Rath Yatra will take place tomorrow for the first time.
The West Bengal Chief Minister made preparatory meetings with State Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, DGP Rajeev Kumar and ISKCON temple authorities, ahead of Rath Yatra tomorrow. Major security arrangements have been made in Digha with the Fire Brigade, police assistance booths and drinking water facilities. Security has been beefed up, including Kolkata Police and civic police, in large numbers
"Barricades have been set up all across to prevent stampede," the Chief Minister said.
A huge number of tourists have thronged to Digha in large numbers on the occasion of tourism.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, after holding several rounds of meetings with the temple authorities and administration said, "Jagannath Dham is a holy pilgrimage. Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra-the three idols will be taken from the temple to the Rath tonight. The road is a little narrow. Tomorrow the pujas will start after 9.30am. The temple will remain open and pilgrims can come. The stone idols will remain in the temple. However, the Neem wood idol will be brought to the Rath tonight."
Banerjee The Rath Yatra will start at 2.30 PM and offerings will be done before that. It is around one km away that the Rath will travel. We seek everyone's cooperation.
"Rath Yatra is taking place for the first time in Digha's Jagannathdham Temple for the first time. The holy path I welcome everyone and urge everyone to cooperate. We have a team of entire ministers and ISKCON present here and administration.
Several state ministers Indranil Sen, Chandrima Bhattacharya and Sujit Bose, Aroop Biswas have come to Digha for the occasion with the Chief Minister.
The West Bengal Chief Minister inaugurated the newly constructed Jagannath Temple in Digha on the auspicious day of Akshay Tritiya on April 30. Modelled on Puri Jagannath temple, the Jagannath Dham, has been built at a cost of Rs 250 crore.
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