DEHRADUN: Following the alleged theft of temple offerings at Badrinath, the Shri Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC) has begun overhauling its surveillance and donation-counting systems to ensure greater security, accountability and transparency.
As part of the initiative, the Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines are proposed to be linked to an AI-enabled cloud and satellite storage system. The technology will securely preserve CCTV recordings and allow authorised BKTC officials to monitor live and archived footage remotely from any location.
The alleged irregularities in the handling of donations and offerings have caused considerable embarrassment to the temple administration. They have also exposed serious gaps in the surveillance infrastructure at two of the country’s most revered Himalayan shrines.
Despite BKTC’s claim that CCTV footage was preserved for 45 days, the Special Investigation Team probing the Badrinath theft case could obtain recordings for only 13 days. Officials attributed the shortfall to the limited storage capacity of the cameras currently installed at the shrines.
Taking note of the lapse, BKTC chairman Hemant Dwivedi directed officials to strengthen CCTV coverage at Badrinath, Kedarnath and other prominent temples managed by the committee.
“The comprehensive CCTV plan is being implemented with a firm resolve to make the management of Badrinath and Kedarnath more systematic, transparent and robust,” Dwivedi told TNIE.
“It will facilitate close and continuous monitoring of arrangements for pilgrims, temple committee offices, the counting of offerings and donation boxes. Most importantly, all CCTV footage will be stored with complete confidentiality and security,” he said.
The upgraded platform is expected to allow senior officials to supervise sensitive operations in real time and review stored footage whenever required.
Similar security arrangements will subsequently be extended to other temples under BKTC’s administrative control.
Apart from Badrinath and Kedarnath, the committee currently manages 47 other temples. However, CCTV cameras have so far been installed only at Badrinath, Kedarnath, the Narsingh Temple in Jyotirmath and the Triyuginarayan Temple in Rudraprayag district.
Officials acknowledged that the cameras at these locations also have limited storage capacity. The proposed technology-driven revamp is therefore expected to establish a uniform surveillance framework, strengthen the chain of custody for recordings and reduce the possibility of tampering or financial irregularities across BKTC-managed shrines.
