The 149th Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath rolled out in Ahmedabad on Thursday morning under heavy security, with Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel performing the traditional ‘Pahind Vidhi’ to mark its commencement.More than 30,000 security personnel equipped with AI-powered surveillance were deployed to ensure a peaceful procession, officials said.The annual procession, taken out every year on Ashadhi Bij, began at around 7 am from the 400-year-old Lord Jagannath temple in Jamalpur, after Patel performed the symbolic ritual of sweeping the path of the three chariots of Lord Jagannath, his elder brother Balbhadra and sister Subhadra with a golden broom.Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited the temple at around 4 am to participate in the pre-dawn ‘Mangla Aarti’ before the deities’ idols were placed on their respective chariots.The three chariots then rolled out of the temple premises, pulled by members of the Khalasi community in keeping with the centuries-old tradition.Nearly 15 lakh devotees are expected to gather at the temple and along the 16-km route to witness the procession, which will pass through communally sensitive localities such as Jamalpur, Kalupur, Shahpur and Dariyapur before returning at around 9 pm after nearly 14 hours.The procession, stretching up to 1.5 km, comprises the three chariots, 18 decorated elephants, around 100 trucks carrying tableaux, nearly 30 akhadas, religious congregations and about 20 bhajan mandalis.Ahmedabad Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gahlaut said around 30,000 personnel, including city police, Home Guards and Traffic Brigade (TRB) jawans, have been deployed for the event.The security arrangement includes nearly 1,100 senior officers comprising 10 DIG/IG-rank officers, 42 SP/DCP-rank officers, 93 ACPs, 303 police inspectors and 673 sub-inspectors.As many as 3,000 State Reserve Police personnel, five companies of the Rapid Action Force, four companies of the Border Security Force and three specialised Chetak commando teams have also been deployed for rapid response.Police have put in place a multi-layered security grid comprising a moving bandobast of around 2,000 personnel accompanying the three chariots and 100 trucks, besides static deployment across the route.More than 250 rooftop surveillance points and another 250 “deep points” inside the bylanes along the route have been created to monitor the procession and sensitive areas.More than 3,700 CCTV cameras have been installed along the route, and their live feed is being monitored from 12 control rooms, the police said.AI-enabled video analytics are monitoring crowd movement, while photographs of more than 65,000 persons with criminal records have been uploaded into the facial recognition system to generate instant alerts.More than 100 drone cameras have also been deployed for aerial surveillance up to 500 metres beyond the procession route, while two anti-drone jamming guns have been positioned to neutralise unauthorised drones, the police added.