The recent tragedy in Uttarakhand, which left at least 580 dead and over 5,000 missing, has served a wake-up call to authorities tasked with handling emergencies at other prominent temple towns in the country. Business Standard reviewed the disaster management plans at four major temples - Vaishno Devi, Sabarimala, Tirumala and the Jagannath temple in Puri - which see millions of pilgrims every year. Here is a sneak peek into the findings of our correspondents:
Lack of coordination mars preparedness at Vaishno Devi
Are the authorities at the Vaishno Devi shrine equipped to deal with a catastrophe such as the one in Uttarakhand? The answer is a blunt no. "We are not fully prepared. We have manpower but we don't have adequate infrastructure and specialised training," admits Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, district commissioner of Reasi. "We need earthmovers and other machines. We have written several times to the state disaster management authority… We have funds available to purchase equipment on a need basis." He rues the fact that the state disaster relief force lacks expert training and is deployed for sundry duties.
Katra, a small town in Reasi district with a floating population of about 35,000, serves as the base camp for the shrine. The state has a history of natural disasters, including the death of about 1,000 people in an earthquake in 2005 and 150 during the Leh cloudburst in 2010. The shrine is prone to earthquakes, landslides, wildfires and cloudbursts, as well as to stampedes and terrorism. Instances of shooting stones, wildfires and heavy snow on the way to the shrine are common.
State authorities and the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board assume an Uttarakhand-like tragedy is unlikely, owing to the different topography. The Chenab river flows some 20 km away from the town; there are no constructions along the drains that carry rain water from the shrine to the river and the nearby hills aren't inhabited. Choudhary and Ravi Sharma, executive officer of Katra's municipality committee, said the town didn't have any unauthorised building.
A disaster management plan is in place since 2009. Authorities seem to be ready to evacuate pilgrims with two helicopters. Currently, a 200-member disaster management team of the board is deployed at many locations along the route. But lack of coordination among the agencies poses a serious challenge to disaster relief work. Rishpal Singh, deputy chief executive of the board, said, "Neither are there regular coordination meetings, nor do we conduct joint mock drills at regular intervals with other agencies… in terms of preparedness, we have a long way to go."
Puri thinks it can cope with any temple disaster
With restoration of the shrines in Uttarakhand likely to take time, many are planning to flock to Puri. Is this coastal town ready to deal with a surge in the flow of pilgrims? What is the level of preparedness in case of a disaster at the Jagannath Temple here?
The contingency plans are in line with the general district disaster management plan, redrafted following a devastating cyclone in 1999. However, the Odisha administration hasn't put in place safeguards to deal with calamities such as tsunamis. Also, no specific measures have been planned for the temple. "In view of the Kedarnath tragedy, we are considering training the temple staff and servitors to meet such eventualities. We will meet the training expenses from our funds," said Arvind Padhee, chief administrator of the temple.
To avoid any untoward situation, especially during the Nabakalebar festival in 2015, the temple administration plans to replicate the disaster preparedness model of the recently held Maha Kumbh Mela.
For maintenance of the shrine, the state government, along with the temple administration, had urged the Centre to set up an office of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in this coastal town, Padhee said.
Archaeologists claim the ancient architecture of the Jagannath temple can absorb shocks from earthquakes up to a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale. Also, fears of water logging are unfounded, they add. "The super cyclone in 1999 couldn't damage a single component of the ancient temple," said Rakesh Kumar, an ASI official.
The rise in the number of pilgrims to Puri for the annual Rath Yatra has led to concern on crowd safety. In the last two years, two mock drills have been conducted at the district level. While a district-level natural calamity committee meeting was held in May, a mock drill was organised in Puri district on June 19, at a sanctioned cost of about Rs 1,30,000, officials said.
Abhaya Kumar Nayak, general manager, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, said any emergency could be responded to within two hours.
'Good' contingency plan adds to the draw at Tirumala
The Tirumala shrine, located near the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border and the country's richest, also seems the safest for pilgrims. The management of the temple at the hill shrine, believed to be the abode of Lord Balaji, says a tragedy on the lines of what happened at Kedarnath is unlikely in this region.
The Tirumala temple sees about 65,000 visitors on an average day and about 1,00,000 during May and June. Despite the fact that 4,00,000 people thronged the temple on Garuda Seva day last year, no stampede was reported, says G V G Ashok Kumar, chief vigilance and security officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages the temple complex.
Tirumala has an elaborate network of queue complexes to regulate the unending flow in a manageable mode. Kumar says the queues are managed by trained staff and the complexes are under CCTV surveillance; any disturbance is addressed in seconds.
V Madhusudan, executive director of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, says, "A disaster management committee has been set up at the state level. Besides, Tirumala has one of the best response actions for any such issue."
Recently, Shashidhar Reddy, vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), said Tirupati's contingency plan was a good one.
Kumar says, "The only natural calamity we could expect is landslides during heavy rains. For this, too, our engineering team has a good response system." On whether the staff at Tirumala was trained to respond to natural disasters, he said, "Yes, but we feel more training is required. For this, the NDMA has agreed to help." He said another perceived threat was the risk of a "terrorist attack". Currently, in addition to about 1,500 state and private guards and armed special police, an 'Octopus' security unit is present in the temple premises. A unit of the state disaster response force Andhra Pradesh plans to set up would also be stationed here.
Coordination meetings among all departments are held on a regular basis - every week, mock drills are held, while armed personnel posted there conduct mock drills every 15 days.
Sabarimala still to fully assess risks at the shrine
In the festive season last year, Kerala's Sabarimala Sri Dharmasastha Temple recorded about 30 million pilgrims, even as the state's total population is about 32.5 million; most were from neighbouring states.
At Sabarimala, where stampedes and fires aren't new, authorities don't rule out natural disasters. Following the disaster in Uttarakhand, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has written to the state government to set up a weather station in Sabarimala. "We cannot say when and where a landslide or a cloudburst could happen…. We have to be prepared," said P Venugopal, Devaswom commissioner. He added disaster management was the onus of the state government, though TDB would also help in arranging some of the facilities, based on the government's suggestions.
The temple is managed by the TDB. Sabarimala is open for pilgrims only for 120-130 days a year - the first five days of every month and 65-70 days in the November-January period, government officials say.
In 2011, as many as 102 devotees died in a stampede at Pullumedu, near the temple. After the tragedy, the government put standard operating procedures, including those for crowd management, in place, said K Jayakumar, who was the chief coordinator at Sabarimala till recently. The Kerala police has designed and developed a software - Sabarimala Virtual Q-System - through which pilgrims can reserve places in the queue. It is claimed the system has helped reduce crowds during the peak season. G Baburaj, retired inspector general of police (armed police), says the number of pilgrims has been growing 10-15 per cent every year and 3,000-5,000 police personnel are deployed to control the crowd.
The government is spreading awareness on 'dos' and 'don'ts' for pilgrims, police officials, etc, at Sabarimala. Makeshift eateries operating during the peak season aren't allowed to stock more than a particular number of gas cylinders.
Experts say as the temple is situated in the middle of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, authorities are left with little space to expand facilities. But a master plan, which involves increasing safety without affecting the area, is being implemented.
Lack of coordination mars preparedness at Vaishno Devi
Are the authorities at the Vaishno Devi shrine equipped to deal with a catastrophe such as the one in Uttarakhand? The answer is a blunt no. "We are not fully prepared. We have manpower but we don't have adequate infrastructure and specialised training," admits Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, district commissioner of Reasi. "We need earthmovers and other machines. We have written several times to the state disaster management authority… We have funds available to purchase equipment on a need basis." He rues the fact that the state disaster relief force lacks expert training and is deployed for sundry duties.
Katra, a small town in Reasi district with a floating population of about 35,000, serves as the base camp for the shrine. The state has a history of natural disasters, including the death of about 1,000 people in an earthquake in 2005 and 150 during the Leh cloudburst in 2010. The shrine is prone to earthquakes, landslides, wildfires and cloudbursts, as well as to stampedes and terrorism. Instances of shooting stones, wildfires and heavy snow on the way to the shrine are common.
State authorities and the Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board assume an Uttarakhand-like tragedy is unlikely, owing to the different topography. The Chenab river flows some 20 km away from the town; there are no constructions along the drains that carry rain water from the shrine to the river and the nearby hills aren't inhabited. Choudhary and Ravi Sharma, executive officer of Katra's municipality committee, said the town didn't have any unauthorised building.
A disaster management plan is in place since 2009. Authorities seem to be ready to evacuate pilgrims with two helicopters. Currently, a 200-member disaster management team of the board is deployed at many locations along the route. But lack of coordination among the agencies poses a serious challenge to disaster relief work. Rishpal Singh, deputy chief executive of the board, said, "Neither are there regular coordination meetings, nor do we conduct joint mock drills at regular intervals with other agencies… in terms of preparedness, we have a long way to go."
Sahil Makkar
Puri thinks it can cope with any temple disaster
With restoration of the shrines in Uttarakhand likely to take time, many are planning to flock to Puri. Is this coastal town ready to deal with a surge in the flow of pilgrims? What is the level of preparedness in case of a disaster at the Jagannath Temple here?
The contingency plans are in line with the general district disaster management plan, redrafted following a devastating cyclone in 1999. However, the Odisha administration hasn't put in place safeguards to deal with calamities such as tsunamis. Also, no specific measures have been planned for the temple. "In view of the Kedarnath tragedy, we are considering training the temple staff and servitors to meet such eventualities. We will meet the training expenses from our funds," said Arvind Padhee, chief administrator of the temple.
To avoid any untoward situation, especially during the Nabakalebar festival in 2015, the temple administration plans to replicate the disaster preparedness model of the recently held Maha Kumbh Mela.
For maintenance of the shrine, the state government, along with the temple administration, had urged the Centre to set up an office of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in this coastal town, Padhee said.
Archaeologists claim the ancient architecture of the Jagannath temple can absorb shocks from earthquakes up to a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale. Also, fears of water logging are unfounded, they add. "The super cyclone in 1999 couldn't damage a single component of the ancient temple," said Rakesh Kumar, an ASI official.
The rise in the number of pilgrims to Puri for the annual Rath Yatra has led to concern on crowd safety. In the last two years, two mock drills have been conducted at the district level. While a district-level natural calamity committee meeting was held in May, a mock drill was organised in Puri district on June 19, at a sanctioned cost of about Rs 1,30,000, officials said.
Abhaya Kumar Nayak, general manager, Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, said any emergency could be responded to within two hours.
Nirmalya Behera
'Good' contingency plan adds to the draw at Tirumala
The Tirumala shrine, located near the Andhra Pradesh-Tamil Nadu border and the country's richest, also seems the safest for pilgrims. The management of the temple at the hill shrine, believed to be the abode of Lord Balaji, says a tragedy on the lines of what happened at Kedarnath is unlikely in this region.
The Tirumala temple sees about 65,000 visitors on an average day and about 1,00,000 during May and June. Despite the fact that 4,00,000 people thronged the temple on Garuda Seva day last year, no stampede was reported, says G V G Ashok Kumar, chief vigilance and security officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages the temple complex.
Tirumala has an elaborate network of queue complexes to regulate the unending flow in a manageable mode. Kumar says the queues are managed by trained staff and the complexes are under CCTV surveillance; any disturbance is addressed in seconds.
V Madhusudan, executive director of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation, says, "A disaster management committee has been set up at the state level. Besides, Tirumala has one of the best response actions for any such issue."
Recently, Shashidhar Reddy, vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), said Tirupati's contingency plan was a good one.
Kumar says, "The only natural calamity we could expect is landslides during heavy rains. For this, too, our engineering team has a good response system." On whether the staff at Tirumala was trained to respond to natural disasters, he said, "Yes, but we feel more training is required. For this, the NDMA has agreed to help." He said another perceived threat was the risk of a "terrorist attack". Currently, in addition to about 1,500 state and private guards and armed special police, an 'Octopus' security unit is present in the temple premises. A unit of the state disaster response force Andhra Pradesh plans to set up would also be stationed here.
Coordination meetings among all departments are held on a regular basis - every week, mock drills are held, while armed personnel posted there conduct mock drills every 15 days.
T E Narasimhan
Sabarimala still to fully assess risks at the shrine
In the festive season last year, Kerala's Sabarimala Sri Dharmasastha Temple recorded about 30 million pilgrims, even as the state's total population is about 32.5 million; most were from neighbouring states.
At Sabarimala, where stampedes and fires aren't new, authorities don't rule out natural disasters. Following the disaster in Uttarakhand, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has written to the state government to set up a weather station in Sabarimala. "We cannot say when and where a landslide or a cloudburst could happen…. We have to be prepared," said P Venugopal, Devaswom commissioner. He added disaster management was the onus of the state government, though TDB would also help in arranging some of the facilities, based on the government's suggestions.
The temple is managed by the TDB. Sabarimala is open for pilgrims only for 120-130 days a year - the first five days of every month and 65-70 days in the November-January period, government officials say.
In 2011, as many as 102 devotees died in a stampede at Pullumedu, near the temple. After the tragedy, the government put standard operating procedures, including those for crowd management, in place, said K Jayakumar, who was the chief coordinator at Sabarimala till recently. The Kerala police has designed and developed a software - Sabarimala Virtual Q-System - through which pilgrims can reserve places in the queue. It is claimed the system has helped reduce crowds during the peak season. G Baburaj, retired inspector general of police (armed police), says the number of pilgrims has been growing 10-15 per cent every year and 3,000-5,000 police personnel are deployed to control the crowd.
The government is spreading awareness on 'dos' and 'don'ts' for pilgrims, police officials, etc, at Sabarimala. Makeshift eateries operating during the peak season aren't allowed to stock more than a particular number of gas cylinders.
Experts say as the temple is situated in the middle of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, authorities are left with little space to expand facilities. But a master plan, which involves increasing safety without affecting the area, is being implemented.
Gireesh Babu