145th Jagannath Rath Yatra 2022: Gujarat Police lays out final route for procession, announces traffic diversions in Ahmedabad

The 145th Jagannath Rath Yatra will begin on July 1st and in order to smoothen traffic flow along the final route, the Gujarat police station in the city on Wednesday announced various traffic diversions. The final route for the upcoming Jagannath Yatra will be 18 km long and will begin from Jamalpur Darwaza, and end at Saraspur. The procession is expected to be attended by over three lakh pilgrims. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be present at the Jagannath Temple in Sarspur on that day where he will perform the evening aarti at around 6 pm. 

Around 25,000 personnel from the Gujarat Police will be deployed along the route of the yatra. According to the police, the final leg of the procession will be from Jamalpur Chakla to Vaishya Sabha, Astodia Chakla to Madangopal, Chakla to Khadia Gate, Chakla to Kalika Gate, Chakla to Panchkuva, and finally, to Saraspur.

“The concerned routes mentioned in the map will be shut for a few hours as yatra proceeds from them, the roads will be opened. Commuters can use the alternate route of Raikhad Char Rasta to Victoria Garden to the riverfront to Flower market to Jamalpur bridge in order to travel to Geeta Mandir road,” said Mayanksinh Chavda, joint police commissioner, in a statement.

Astodia Char Rasta commuters can also use the diverted route to reach the Jamalpur bridge and reach the Sardar bridge. Similarly, those going towards Paldi can use the same route to reach the bridge. The police will additionally facilitate the traffic movement on the route of Rath Yatra.

The 145th Jagannath Rath Yatra was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic for the last two years. Hence the celebrations are being conducted in a full-fledged manner today. In 2020, the state government ordered a symbolic procession of the chariots inside the temple premises only. In 2021, only three chariots and a few priests were permitted to carry the procession, without public participation.