Hotels in Puri have reopened after almost two-and-a-half months. Rooms have been refurbished and booking has begun. But business is yet to gain momentum as visitors are few and far between.

Hoteliers, who had suffered massive losses due to Cyclone Fani that wreaked havoc in Puri last year, are yet to recover from the blow. Most of the hotels were closed for six months (May to October) last year following the destruction wrought by Fani.

Puri Hotel Owners’ Association president Rama Krushna Das Mohapatra said: “When the business started to pick up after the Fani blow, the coronavirus pandemic hit us again. All the hotels have been closed since March. Following our request, the government gave consent to open the hotels two days ago. Now a majority of hotels have opened up.”

According to the new guidelines, a tourist can stay in Puri for only 72 hours (three days). “We have agreed to the norm for 30 per cent occupancy. Necessary instructions have been issued to all the hotels. In the dining halls, all social distancing norms will be maintained. All the hotels have opened only after proper sanitisation,” said Das Mohapatra.

Hoteliers feel it is possible for a tourist to enjoy the sights and sounds in Puri within 72 hours. However, a major problem at the moment is there are no direct trains to Puri now. All the trains are being terminated either at Bhubaneswar or Khurda.

“Until the train connectivity to the town is restored, we won’t get back our tourists,” said a hotelier.

All hoteliers agree that business would only pick up after tourists from Bengal start coming to Puri. “The bulk of our tourists come from Bengal. Most of them come during Rath Yatra. If the government gives the go-ahead to Rath Yatra, scheduled to start from June 23, all the hotels will get back their business,” said hotelier Rabi Naryan Sahoo.

However, uncertainty looms large over the Rath Yatra. Though work on the chariots is going at full speed with only 12 days left for the festival, the state government is yet to take a final call on whether it will be held or not. The high court has already said the state government is the competent authority to take a decision on the issue.

The BJP demanded the government to issue a statement to clear confusion in the minds of crores of devotees on Rath Yatra.

The Puri temple administration has decided to provide 5,000 masks to the servitors engaged in festival-related work.

All the masks will be prepared in coordination with Boyanika, a state-run cooperative enterprise, and self-help groups.