Ahmedabad : Rathyatra will be held with the adherence of strict guidelines of coivd-19. Minister of State for Home Pradipsih Jadeja has said that the rathyatra to be held in the state, including the famous rathyatra of Jagannath temple in Ahmedabad on Ashadhi Beej, will be held this year. Minister Jadeja added that as per tradition, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel will start the rath yatra at the Jagannath temple in the morning by participating in the ‘Pahind Vidhi’ ceremony at the Jagannath temple. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will perform ‘Mangala Aarti’ and seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath. Minister Jadeja added that various written and oral representations were received from different organizers for organizing the rath yatra. In this regard, a detailed discussion was held in the meeting of the core committee chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel. Meetings were held with Mahant Dilip Dasji Maharaj of the temple and members of the Board of Trustees regarding the rathyatra of the Ahmedabad Jagannath Temple and this decision has been taken assuring full cooperation to the State Government.
He added that the recovery rate has been steadily increasing as a result of the effective work done by the state government to curb the transmission of covid-19 and the positivity rate is 0.1%. There are currently 1969 active cases in the state out of which 1959 are stable. And not a single person has died. Only 17 cases have been reported in Ahmedabad city in the last 24 hours. The city has a recovery rate of 98.19% and only 884 active cases. With this in mind, in order to fulfill the faith of the devotees and also to maintain the health of the people, it has been decided to allow the rathyatra to be held by strictly following the protocol of covid-19. Minister Jadeja added that the state government has made full preparations by formulating a separate action plan to protect us all against a possible third wave of Corona. He appealed to all the devotees to strictly follow the protocol so that there would be no problem in it. Minister Jadeja added that on the day of the Rathyatra, Lord Jagannathji’s Rathyatra will be circulating on a distance of 19 km from Ahmedabad city. There will be a complete ban on the distribution of prasad during the rathyatra so that the transition does not increase. For this, curfew will have to be imposed by the local administration in the required areas from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. And if the rathyatra returns to the temple before leaving the temple, the curfew will be announced to end soon. In addition, access and exit routes will have to be controlled on the roads as and when required. Also, bridges connecting the east and west areas of the city will be closed. The organizers have to take care that the number of people not exceeding the number fixed by the state government in the ritual performed after the departure and return of the rathyatra.
