MADURAI: Following the fire accident in the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple in Madurai, various safety measures have been taken in temples across the district, to prevent such accidents in future. Earlier in February, about 36 shops were gutted down and Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam partially collapsed due to a fire accident that took place in the premises of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple.
Acting on the incident, temples across the district have beefed up security measures with a view to prevent the occurrence of similar accidents. Briefing about it, the Joint Commissioner of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department and Executive Officer of Meenakshi Amman Temple, N Natarajan said, "Ever since the accident five months ago, several precautionary measures have been taken, including installation of CCTV cameras and equipments like fire extinguishers, fire buckets in the 22 temples in Madurai that come under the administration of Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple. Also, the electrical wiring in all these temples was checked and no major faults in connection was found."
Commenting on the renovation of the Veera Vasantharayar Mandapam, he said that the renovation process is still going on. G Selvapandi, a tourist guide at the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple said, "After the fire accident, the fire and rescue services personnel demonstrated and trained us on the ways to use the fire safety equipments."
Post the fire accident, the temple administration has not permitted the setting up of shops near the temple entrance and have completely removed all the shops which were functioning inside the temple. Also, there is a strict implementation of the ban on carrying mobile phones, laptops and other electrical gadgets and items inside the temple, said M Thirumani, a devotee.
P Amirtha Muthu, a staff at the Aadhi Sokkanadhar temple in Simmakkal said that the place meant for lighting lamps have now been shifted away, as a preventive measure. This temple which has CCTV installed, is now equipped with one fire extinguisher and two fire buckets, akin to Jeyaveera Anjeneya Swamy Temple in Simmakkal and Prasanna Venkatachalapathy Temple in Tallakulam and Kallazhagar Temple in Alagarkoil .
Meanwhile, the administration of Subramaniya Swamy Temple in Tiruparankundram, which manages six temples in the district had installed a total of 32 fire extinguishers, three fire hose in all the temples under its control. Ends