Govardhan Peeth Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, reacting to the reported terrorist plans to organise serial blasts in Puri during the car festival to cause heavy human causalities, said Puri is one of the four important dhamas and one of the important place of pilgrimage of Hindu faith where everyday thousands of pilgrims visit to offer prayers to lord Jagannath.
It is the responsibility of both the Union and State Governments to protect the temple and ensure safety of the pilgrims and the visitors. All socio-cultural and economic developments of the country centre round the abode of lord Jagannath. Hence, it is the foremost duty of the authorities to protect the shrine and the holy city, Shankaracharya said.
Notably, following a terrorist strike in IISc, Bangalore and Hyderabad, a three-member national security guard team headed by Commander Major lK Nishad had evaluated the existing security arrangements of the temple in 2006.
He had described it as a soft target for terrorist strike and submitted a number of suggestions to prevent possible strike, including an emergency contingency plan in the event of a terrorist strike. Though the NSG Commander, Nishad had refused to reveal his suggestions and findings of lacunas, it is learnt from reliable sources that the report suggested removal of all structures from the perimeters of the temple as the multi-storey buildings located in close proximity of the temple and around it pose a threat to it.
On the other hand, the administration did precious little to implement the suggestions of the security experts. In the meanwhile, a number of new high rise buildings have came up near the temple.
Though the State Government had announced taking several security measures but lack of will had shelved the arrangements in cold storage. The Puri police as a customary arrangement double up its presence in and around the temple every time terrorists strike elsewhere in the country. But the reinforcements are removed after a day or two. As of now, the metal detector gates and CCTV cameras are not in order while the watch towers run empty.
This apart, former DGP Gopal Chandra Nanda had inaugurated a special police station, named as lions Gate police station, in front of the temple in June, 2008. While dedicating it for the security of the shrine and the pilgrims, the DGP had informed that the police station would be the most modern with 204 armed police personnel, including one Inspector, 20 Sub-Inspectors and a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) to be engaged for round-the-clock vigil in and around the temple. The police station would have the largest strength of officers and personnel trained to tackle every situation, the DGP had announced.
Even after the elapse of so many years, the police station is yet to have its sanctioned strength. By contrast, it functions from a rented building. The security works are being executed by Jagannath Temple Security (JTS), besides a handful of police personnel.