Ayodhya: A virtual siege has been laid at camps set up for kar sevaks as authorities braced themselves up to meet the situation when kar sevaks from neighbouring districts start arriving in the holy city on March 7 as per schedule.

An unannounced curfew has been clamped around Kar Sevak Puram and Ram Sevak Puram and movement towards these camps drastically restricted.

Patrolling has been intensified on all roads leading to Ayodhya and an additional check post set up to prevent entry of kar sevaks.

Authorities cancelled all passes issued earlier and issued new ones, which will be effective from March 7.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) has chalked out a schedule for kar sevaks from various countries and as per programme, kar sevaks from Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to arrive in Ayodhya from March 7.

Divisional Commissioner A K Gupta admitted that authorities have a challenging task on hand.

"We have made security more stringent to prevent kar sevaks from reaching Ayodhya," he said.

He said an effective way to prevent congregation of kar sevaks in Ayodhya was to stop them at their places of origin.

PTI