Gujarat: In this Pol, yatris' get home-cooked bhog

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one, said Mother Teresa. Following the same virtue, more than 200 residents of Gandhi Ni Pol, a housing cluster in Saraspur, cooked food for the yatris'. The food was prepared without seeking any help from the cook or caterer. There are around 10 to 12 pols in Saraspur area, and it is believed to be Lord Jagannath's mossaad (maternal uncle's residence). Like every year, the locals here carried forward the tradition of serving food to the devotees of Lord Jagannath.

The residents of other pols called in cooks to prepare the food. But the residents of Gandhi Ni Pol started the preparation three days prior to the Rath Yatra. Every family participated in preparing the grand feast for the yatris participating in the procession.

Mannan Patel, a resident of Gandhi Ni Pol, said, "This has been our tradition for the past 70 years now, and just every year this year too we carried forward the legacy. In most of the other pols, cooks are been called and paid to prepare the food. Here family members participate in cooking and preparing the delicacies." The residents prepared food for more than 7000 people. The dessert included 700 kg of Mohanthal, a popular local sweet. "We started the preparation of Mohanthal three days prior to the Yatra. By Thursday we were ready with 450 kg of fulwadi, a local snack, 300 kg of puris' and 250 kg of potato curry." said, Patel.

Procession delayed by over an hour

The procession of 142nd Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, was put on an hour halt near Kalupur after an argument broke out between the Dilip Dasji Maharaj and police officials for rushing the procession near Saraspur- Kalpur bridge.

The Maharaj put the procession on halt for about an hour at Kalupur. He refused to let it proceed even after other officials intervened. The elephants and trucks that were a part of the grandeur were also ordered to stop. The procession proceeded only after AK Singh, Ahmedabad police commissioner persuaded. Singh stated, "The procession was stopped for a time being in Kalupur, but later the matter was sorted."

UAV defunct

For the Rath Yatra bandobast, Ahmedabad police department bought 8 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) or drones for the aerial surveillance of the entire route. However, the cops were unable not able to fly one of the drones near Jagannath Temple, due to range issues of Anti-Drone System installed to eliminate possible aerial threats. While in other areas, the remaining 7 drones were used and monitored by cops.

Elephant goes berserk

About 19 decorated elephants headlined the Yatra. When the procession was to reach Kalupur, one of the male elephants went berserk and broke the line. Cops immediately cleared the crowd gathered near the area. Within a couple of minutes, the elephant was controlled by the mahout and any untoward incident was avoided. Similarly, one of the Mounted Police Force horse also got out of control while the procession passed Dariapur. The rider unable to bring the animal under control was saved after police officials intervened.

Dispute with cops

Like every year, lakhs of people thronged to get a glimpse of the Lords. Three times more than expected number of people gathered outside the temple. In order to control the crowd, cops barricaded exit and entry gate of the temple before Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs and Vijay Rupani, Chief Minister made a visit. The yatri's were not allowed to enter or leave the barricade during that time. Some were stuck for hours. This upset the bhakts and a heated argument broke out.

23 medical emergencies reported

The medical emergency service 108 that was put into service to deal with any eventualities during the Rath Tatra reported 23 cases of medical emergency. This included a cop Shyamalsinh Zala, who was on Rath Yatra duty. Zala complaint of abdominal pain and was given primary treatment. He however refused to go to a hospital. Most of the cames included that of fainting and vomiting. A few also involved injury due to falling down. The service had employed an additional 11 ambulances exclusively for the Rath Yatra.

Rath Begins Amidst Tight Security

About 12,000 constables, 5000 homeguards, 900 sub-inspectors deployed

• 25,000 cops deployed to ensure a safety and security
• 10 teams Bomb squad
• 200 CCTV cameras 
• 8 Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

The Procession

The 1.5 km long procession covered a route of 15 km during the 11-hour long journey back to the Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur area