Tourism Department and the police administration in a joint venture have commissioned four PCR vehicles along the Puri-Konark and Puri-Satpara (Chilika) routes on Sunday.
Minister for Tourism and Culture Ashok Panda, in the presence of local MLA Maheswar Mohanty and the district Collector and SP flagged off the operation of the PCR vans from the Puri beach.
While two PCR vans would cover the entire 36-km stretch of the Puri Konark marine drive road, the other two would patrol the Puri-Satpara routes. One PCR van would cover from Puri to Brahmagiri and another from Brahmagiri to Satpara. Similarly, a third vehicle would operate from Puri to Balighai while the fourth one would operate along the Balighai-Konark marine drive road.
The Tourism Department would provide 15 litres of fuel per vehicle per day while the police administration would deploy 20 policemen, five for each vehicle besides the drivers. The Tourist Department would provide special dresses for the policemen.
A toll-free number 1800 200 2524 was made operational for visitors at the Sea Beach police station. This apart, eight tourist desks would operate in the State with four in Puri police stations located along the beaches, Minister Panda said.