‘Inadequate facilities at Lord Shiva Temple in MP causing problems for devotees’

Bhopal, Aug 21 (IANS) Newly established Mauganj District Collector Ajay Srivastava has said that inadequate facilities at the premises are causing problems for the devotees at renowned Lord Shiva Temple in Devtalab in Madhya Pradesh.

“When I visited the temple, I found that the gathering of devotees was much beyond my expectation. A proper system needs to be put in place to ensure the safety visiting devotes. I was told that during Shravan month, more than three lakh devotees turn up at the temple,” he said.

He said that after inspecting the entire temple premises, it has observed that proper barricading and separate entry and exit gates needs to be prepared to avoid congestion especially during the festive days.

He informed that CCTV cameras need to be installed in and outside the temple premises and adequate cops also need to be deployed.

“I send my recommendation to the high authority to provide adequate police personnel, including women cops to be deployed at the temple premises and hopefully all required developments will be done soon,” Srivastav said.

On July 31, around 40 people were reportedly injured due to stampede that broke out after an electric wire fell on a group of devotees at the temple.

Notably, Maugnaj, which was the part of Rewa district, has been declared as 53rd district of Madhya Pradesh recently and a notification was issued a couple of weeks back. And therefore, Devtalab area falls under Mauganj district.

The new district has been formed comprising three out of 12 tehsils of Rewa district - Mauganj, Hanumana and Naigarhi. The remaining nine tehsils - Huzur, Huzur Nagar, Jawa, Teonthar, Raipur Karchulian, Gurh, Sirmaur, Simariya and Mangawan will be parts of Rewa district.

Ajay Srivastava, who was posted as additional commissioner in Scheduled Tribe and Finance Corporation of MP government, has been appointed as the first collector of Mauganj, while, IPS officer Veerendra Jain, who was previously commandant of the 8th Battalion in Chhindwara district, was assigned as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of the new district.