Puri temple administration to insure Rath Yatra

Pilgrims visiting Puri during the famed Ratra Yatra festival will have their lives insured against accidental death and amputation of legs and hands.

The Jagannath temple administration of Puri has tied up with Oriental Insurance Corporation to insure the lives of the devotees during the sacred festival which falls on July 13.

The insurance cover is only for 15-days- from the day of Nabajauban darshan (the day of the recovery of deities from illness) on July 11 to Niladri Vijaya (return of the deities to the temple) on July 24. The area of the insurance is limited to the three-km stretch of Badadanda (grand road) between Singha Dwar (Lion's Gate) to Gundicha temple.

The chariots of the three deities-Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabahadra and Subhadra would roll on the Badadanda on the day of the Rath Yatra amid the presence of lakhs of devotees.

As several lakhs of devotees across the country and abroad will throng the holy town to participate in the annual Rath Yatra, the temple administration wants to ensure their safety and cover their lives, said an officer of the temple administration.

In the event of any accidental death of any devotee in the particular area during the period, Rs 100,000 will be given to the kin of the deceased as a part of the insurance, said the branch manager of the Oriental Insurance's Puri branch R N Nayak.

The temple administration has paid Rs 44,210 as a premium amount including the tax, said Laxmidhar Pujapanda, public relation officers of the temple told Business Standard.

The temple authorities have expected the arrival of around 8 lakh devotees this year during the festival.

Keeping in the mind the large scale congregation during the festival, the Puri temple administration has been insuring the lives of the devotees for the last three years.

The insurance company, however, has settled the claim only once in the past couple of years. The company had paid Rs 200,000 each to six devotees had died due to stampede two years back.

"But the risk cover has been reduced to Rs one lakh this year", said an official of Oriental Insurance.

While the risk cover for accidental death inside the temple has been pegged at Rs one lakh, the amount has been fixed at Rs 50,000 in the event of amputation of legs and hands due to the mishap.