Expressing concern over the State Government's tardy progress in streamlining the security system of Shree Jagannath Temple of Puri, former MlA Bibhudendra Pratap Das has urged Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to upgrade the security system of the shrine as per his commitments made in the Assembly.
"Whenever the Chief Minister was asked in the Assembly about the security measures of the Jagannath Temple, Puri, lingaraj Temple, Bhubaneswar, and many other important tourist places in the State, he uttered only one sentence that efforts are on to streamline security systems. But till date, nothing positive has happened as yet," rued Das.
Stating that terrorist attacks are always apprehended at such important places, Das said many MlAs, including leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh, have raised the issue several times in the Assembly without any result.
He pointed out that the Chief Minister, while replying to a question in the Assembly on June 28, 2010, had said there was a proposal to instal a sophisticated X-ray scanner at the Jagannath Temple.
Replying to another question on December 19, 2011, the Chief Minister had said that in view of security of the Jagannath Temple, a decision had been taken to implement a security surveillance plan in two phases over next five years.
Though the Chief Minister has been promising to instal an X-ray scanner to screen pilgrims entering the Jagannath Temple since last few years, no step has been taken to upgrade the security of the shrine.
Das also referred to the statement of the Chief Minister in the last Assembly session while replying to a query of Anup Sai on December 16 in the Assembly that efforts are on to upgrade the security system of the Jagannath Temple as per the letter of Bhupinder Singh.