Elaborate arrangements have been made this year to avert any untoward incident during Shravani Mela in Deoghar. The State administration is all alert to avert any mishap after last year’s accident in which 10 devotees lost their lives.
“As per the recommendations made by high level team which visited the place after stamped last year, proper arrangement of light has been made in the entire Mela area and shifting the crowd from Railway stations and bus stands to other places,” said Project Officer (Disaster Management) in Jharkhand SK Srivastava. In addition to that, routes have also been diverted away from the main road to avoid any untoward situation, he added.
“Each of the devotees is also being provided 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 administration to track people in case of emergencies,” he added.
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 200 volunteers of Kar-Sevaks, have been trained by a team of State Disaster Management to deal with any exigency.
District administration also asserted that the entire deployment pattern of security forces has also been changed inside and outside the Baba temple in Deoghar so that last year’s incident does not get repeated again.
“In addition to that, the queue capacity of the devotees has also been increased to adjust more and more pilgrims, diverting the general route from the main road,” said Deoghar SP A Vijaylaxmi. There is no line on the main road this time as all of them have been diverted through Jasidih, Nandanpahari and other places, she added.
Senior President of All India Purohit Mahasabha Durlabh Mishra on the other hand, flouted the claims made by the district administration and demanded monitoring of entire Mela management by a senior official.
“All arrangements are being done through SMS.....I demand Chief Minister Ragbhubar Das to get entire Mela arrangements monitored through a senior official,” said Mishra.