PURI: Amidst grand plans mounted by the State Government for creating world-class amenities for the holy town, stampede-like situation that broke out in front of the Srimandir has belied tall claims of Shri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) and Puri administration of ensuring safety for devotees and their hassle-free darshan of the deities.
On Friday, which marked the Dola Purnima, chaos reigned supreme when devotees after standing in queue for hours, suddenly rushed towards the Singhadwar (temple main gate). With the sun beating down and humidity rising, they reportedly broke the barricades forcing their way into the temple through the corridor meant for servitors. Darshan was put on hold due to a delay in rituals of the deities.
The devotees were standing in the queue since early morning. During the wait under the heat, many reportedly fell unconscious and had to be rushed to the hospital. Unable to wait any longer, the crowd scuffled with the security personnel who were outnumbered, and rushed in as soon as the temple doors opened for darshan. The situation was brought under control after police deployed additional teams. Similar scenes were observed on Sunday too.
Senior servitor Binayak Dasmahapatra said the temple administration should allow entry and exit of devotees through all four doors instead of only Singhadwar. Since the Srimandir reopened for devotees after a gap of two years, the administration should have made adequate arrangements for devotees during key festivals, he said. Many residents lambasted the administration for utter mismanagement which they said is putting the lives of devotees in danger.
Stampede-like situation belies claims of safety
A local resident, Kanhu Biswal said the administration is getting around `4 lakh donations from Hundi per day but there is still no basic provision for visitors.
While carpets have been laid to minimise heat from the black-topped Grand Road, the sunshade, only a hundred meters in length from the Singhadwar, is inadequate to cater to a 1.5 km queue.
With hot conditions prevailing, waiting in the barricaded queues for darshan has also become an ordeal for thousands of devotees, especially the elderly. Problems mount when the queue gets longer on weekends or when there is a delay in darshan due to the performance of “nitees”
Locals say there are reports of people feeling unwell due to long waiting hours and absence of provision of drinking water every day. There is also no special provision for entry of physically challenged persons or a separate corridor for entry of elderly people.
Moreover, visitors are allowed to enter only through the Main Gate and exit through North Gate. The arrangements inside the temple are equally lacking.
Contacted, Collector Samarth Verma and SPK Vishal Singh said the difficulty of pilgrims visiting the Jagannath Temple will be addressed at the earliest.