In a bid to avert any untoward incident during Shravani Mela, the Deoghar district administration has changed the entire deployment pattern of security forces inside and outside the Baba temple - a Baidyanath Jyotirlinga temple, also known as Baba Baidyanath Dham - in Deoghar.
“To prevent any untoward situation the entire area has been divided into 14 general police stations and 16 traffic police stations,” said Deoghar SP A Vijaylaxmi. The SP said that the district administration has also been focussing on increasing co-ordination between the various wings of security forces so that action could be taken immediately on time in case of any exigency.
“In addition to that, the queue capacity has also been increased to adjust more and more pilgrims diverting the general route from the main road,” said Vijaylaxmi. There will be no line on the main road this time as they have been diverted through Jasidih and other areas, she said.
In order to keep a close eye on each and every devotee, more CCTV cameras have been installed this year though which entire line could be covered under surveillance, added the SP.
District administration in Deoghar expects to host over 30 lakh pilgrims during the Shravani Month this year, from July 20 till August 18, and is busy in giving final touch to the preparations so that the devotees do not have to face any problem. Installation of CCTV cameras at major crossings, cleaning of approach roads and conducting training programmes for officials on safety and security is also on full swing.
The State Government, without taking any chances, has also deputed a 25-member team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which has been training officials and will stay in Deoghar during the Shravani Mela.
In addition to that a team of volunteers of Kar-Sevaks already present there, are also being trained by a team of State Disaster Management so that they could be used properly during the hour of need. Proper lightening on the route will also be done making it as clean as possible for the Kanwarias.
“There are certain things on which we are putting special attention this time which includes proper crowd management along with the facility management for Kanwarias so that they do not have to face any problem during darshan.
Special care will also be taken so that the crowd does not get stranded at any particular place and keeps on moving regularly,” said Project Officer (Disaster Management) in Jharkhand Colonel SK Srivastava.
Jharkhand police this time will seek services of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Rapid Action Force (RAF) and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to control the crowd during Shravani Mela at Baidyanath Dham Temple. Deployment of CRPF will also be done this time for the first time.
The 9 km stretch which devotees use to carry water covering a distance of 110 km from Sultanganj in Bihar to Deoghhar is being cleaned.
Officials of the district administration on the other hand said that there will be no VIP Darshan this year like previous years. However, there will be a provision of "Shighradarshanam”, on all days except Sundays and Mondays, for which a devotee would have to buy a coupon of Rs500. The devotee will be escorted by a temple priest to reach the ‘garbhagriha’ using a separate path by a local priest.
Each of the devotees will be provided an access card free of cost once he reaches the temple two. The bar coded card will have his personal details and assign a date and time for darshan too.The card will also help the administration to track people in case of emergencies. Ten Kanwarias died in stampede last year allegedly due to poor law and order situation following which several officials of the district administration including DC and SP were suspended.