PRAYAGRAJ: To check stampede-like situation that occurred last year, Allahabad high court has directed the live-streaming of proceedings inside the Bankey Bihari temple of Vrindavan on the occasion of Janmashtami in consultation with the civil judge (junior division) of Mathura district.
Hearing a PIL filed by Anant Sharma and another resident of Mathura after a stampede in the temple in Aug last year, a division benchobserved, “When the CCTV cameras are installed, Civil Judge (Junior Division) shall be consulted.The district magistrate, Mathura shall abide by the directions of Civil Judge (Junior Division) and shall ensure their compliance,” court added.
In the PIL, a request was made for the proper crowd management, especially during festivals and holidays when lakhs of devotees congregate there. The court in its order dated August 14 directed the administration to manage the ingress and egress of devotees who are inside the temple.
During the course of hearing, state govt counsel said the flow of devotees will be managed by installing barricading inside the temple. “The barricading serves a dual purpose in the sense that it allows for managing the ingress of the devotees as the district administration can ensure that only a specified number of devotees are allowed at any given point of time to ensure that there is no overcrowding inside the premises,” said the state govt counsel.
In the petition, a prayer had been made for proper crowd management, especially during festivals and holidays when lakhs of devotees congregate there.
Earlier, the state government had placed before the court the scheme regarding development of the temple area as a ‘corridor’ with purchase of around five-acre land around the temple to provide facilities to devotees.