Deploy CCTVs, strong rooms, night surveillance in temples: DC

Mangalore, Jun 10: Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim on Tuesday, held a meeting with authorities of major temples in the district to review the arrangement of security measures in the temple premises to ensure the safety of the temples and secure the valuables of the local deities ' from thefts.

As per a detailed directive issued by the Commissioner of Hindu Religious Endowments, Karnataka to secure temples from thefts, the deputy commissioner directed managing committees of ancient and well-known temples that come under A and B category temples to implement adequate precautionary measures in the temple premises such as strong rooms to store valuables belonging to the local deity, safe lockers in banks, close-circuit television cameras, burglar alarms and security personnel during night hours to prevent theft of valuables.

These directives come in the light of increasing number of thefts occurring in religious institutions in the district which are soft targets with minimal or inadequate security measures.

In the meeting, assistant DC Sadashiv Prabhu said that the temple authorities concerned should take adequate steps to tighten security in ancient and well-known temples by installing hidden CCTV cameras and deploying local security personnel in the temple premises, especially during night hours. Any shortcomings in the security arrangement of the temple can be brought to the notice of district administration, he said.

The security arrangements in major temples in the district such as Sri Anantha Padmanabha temple in Kudupu, Sri Mahalingeshwara temple in Puttur, Bappanadu Durgaparameshwari temple in Mulki, Shree Durga Parameshwari temple in Kateel, Sri Vinayaka Shankaranarayana Durgamba temple in Nandavara, Someshwara temple in Ullal, Mangala Devi temple, Shree Rajarajeshwari temple in Polali and Sri Mahalingeshwara temple in Kavoor were reviewed in the meeting.

Most of the committee members representing the temple authorities said that the money collected from donation boxes in temples was deposited at the bank each month. Also, most of the temples had deployed local personnel as well as installed CCTV cameras for security in the temple premises during night hours.

Mr Prabhu said that it was necessary and essential to deploy two personnel as night watchmen for security at each temple. Security measures should be considered as part of maintenance of the temple. There should not be any leniency or cutbacks in enforcing adequate security measures, he said.

He also said that the temple authorities and managing committees should inspect, review and discuss the security arrangements made in their respective temple premises.