Lord Shiva remains defenceless

- Thousands of policemen on duty - Pilgrims carry baggage into sanctum sanctorum Taking holy dip poses problem Srisailam: The devotees are suffering a lot due to drop in water levels at bath ghats along the shores of Tungabhadra river due to erratic rainfall. Thousands of pilgrims facing problem to take holy dip in the murky waters as the authorities had failed to make any alternate arrangements for bathing. The devotees are also facing several hardships to fetch the drinking water at the shrine. The official apathy to upkeep the safety of Srisailam temple, the abode of Lord Shiva has been keeping the devotees on tenterhooks. They are not taking the Intelligence reports seriously posing a threat to the temple as well as the devotees.In the backdrop of twin bomb blasts at Dilskukhnagar, intelligence agencies sent alert messages to the renowned pilgrimage centre in the southern India Srisailam cautioning a possible attack on the famous shrine of Lord Shiva. The State Government reacted positively and appointed special force for the safe keep of the temple spending several crores of rupees. The temple is visited by several millions every year and the income crosses hundreds of millions. Brahmotsavam is being celebrated at Srisailam in connection with Maha Sivaratri and keeping in view the security threat to the ancient temple, the State Government sent eleven Deputy Superintendents of Police, 20 Circle Inspectors, 30 sub inspectors and 2300 constables in addition to the temple security force.A The police force which is supposed to protect the temple are only enjoying their stay at the pilgrimage centre. They are supposed to inspect the suspicious activities of persons entering the temple premises. But most of the time these police officials are seen talking into mobile phones, leaving the security cautions to the wind.

The devotees who are supposed to leave their belongings outside the temple premises have been directly taking them into the sanctum sanctorum. There is hardly any checking even in the queues.A It is apt to recall here that two youths directly entered into the mandapam and resorted to steal from Hundi by cutting the cloth covering it.Even the metal detectors are not functioning anywhere in the temple premises and only a handful of closed circuit TVs are in functioning mode.A The devotees wonder who would be held responsible if some untoward incident occurs.It is high time the police officials turned alert to upgrade the safety of the temple premises.