The Odisha government has started preparations for the Rath Yatra seven months in advance to ensure zero-error arrangements for the mega festival, which saw three deaths due to a stampede in 2025, officials said on Wednesday.
The move marks a significant shift in administrative strategy, prioritising safety and logistics well ahead of the traditional planning cycle to restore public confidence in the state’s flagship religious event.
Chief Secretary Anu Garg chaired a high-level preparatory meeting on Tuesday evening, where she tasked officials to learn from last year’s lapses and develop rigorous protocols to avoid them in the upcoming festival.
“I have urged all the departments to identify errors from the Rath Yatra of previous years and implement corrective measures. Seven months are left for the mega event, during which one can make error-free planning,” she told the media after the meeting.
The meeting saw participation from state’s top brass, including DGP YB Khurania, DG of Fire Services Sudhansu Sarangi, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Hemant Sharma, and Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) Chief Administrator Arabinda Padhee. Puri Collector Dibyajyoti Parida and Puri SP Prateek Singh were also present to provide ground-level insights into the unique challenges of managing the temple town.
Under standard practice, the chief secretary typically holds such state-level meetings four months before the event; however, with the Rath Yatra scheduled for July 16, 2026, the timeline has been drastically moved up.
When questioned about the early start of the meeting, Garg emphasised a proactive stance, stating, “We do not want to take any chance. Every department should start drawing up foolproof plans from now on.”
The urgency follows a somber 2025 Ratha Yatra festival where three people lost their lives and several others were injured during a stampede. Beyond the casualties, a significant delay in the pulling of the chariots caused widespread resentment among the lakhs of devotees gathered. A massive public outrage forced Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to apologise for the lapses.
An official said the focus of the meeting was mostly on crowd management, sanitation, water supply, infrastructure, security and traffic management.
“As the crowd swells every year during Rath Yatra, the perpetration should be augmented proportionally. We cannot repeat the same formula and the same yardstick for the management of a mega event like the Rath Yatra. It should be dynamic and accommodating,” he said.
Last year, about 10 lakh people participated in the festival in the seaside town, he added.
The temple requires 865 logs for chariot-making every year. Since 47 logs have been in store from last year, the administration has started making arrangements for the remaining 818 logs, for which the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Nayagarh is working, a statement said.
Garg, who headed the inquiry into the 2025 stampede, has instructed the DGP to avoid excess crowding near the chariot during the procession.
Apart from this, it was decided not to allow free food distribution on the Grand Road, which causes crowding. Parking spaces for around 500 cars will be made available for smooth management of traffic, she said.
