Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Thursday, 16 July tracked the progress of Ahmedabad's 149th Jagannath Rath Yatra in real time through the Chief Minister's Dashboard, overseeing chariot movement, crowd management, and security deployments across the city. The monitoring came hours after Patel personally flagged off the procession at the historic Shree Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur.

How the CM Monitored the Procession

After performing the traditional 'Pahind Vidhi' ritual at the nearly 400-year-old Shree Jagannathji Mandir and flagging off the yatra, Patel returned to his official residence in Gandhinagar. There, he reviewed live feeds through a video wall at the CM Dashboard, tracking the positions of the three chariots carrying the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, and Devi Subhadra along the customary 16-km route.

Officials briefed the Chief Minister on the deployment of artificial intelligence-enabled surveillance and drone technology by the Gujarat Police for real-time monitoring. The dashboard provided continuous location updates on the chariots and enabled senior officials to assess developments throughout the day.

Key Officials Present at the Review

Senior officials joined Patel at the review session, including Chief Secretary M. K. Das, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Home Department Sanjeev Kumar, Director General of Police (DGP) G. S. Malik, and senior officers from the Gujarat Police and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.

Security Arrangements: One of the Largest Deployments

This year's Rath Yatra is being conducted under one of the most extensive security setups in the event's history. More than 31,000 police personnel have been deployed along the route, supported by drones, AI-assisted surveillance, facial recognition systems, high-resolution CCTV cameras, and body-worn cameras.

A central control room has been established for real-time monitoring of the entire procession route. Notably, dedicated cyber teams are also tracking social media platforms to identify and counter rumours or misinformation circulating during the event — a reflection of how crowd safety management has evolved beyond physical policing.

Significance of the Ahmedabad Rath Yatra

The Ahmedabad Jagannath Rath Yatra is considered the second-largest such procession in India, after the annual yatra at Puri in Odisha, and draws lakhs of devotees each year. Now in its 149th edition, the event holds deep religious and cultural significance for the city. The procession follows the traditional route through Ahmedabad before the chariots return to the temple later in the day.

The use of a live technology dashboard to oversee a religious procession of this scale underscores a broader push by the Gujarat government to integrate digital governance tools into public event management.