Police outposts, 4-lane road part of temple revamp plan

RANCHI: The death of 11 devotees in one of the worst stampedes at Baidyanath Dham shrine has forced the state government to chalk out a plan to revamp Babadham and Basukinath temples.
The state government on Tuesday announced that the first phase of the queue complex will be complete before the 2016 shravani mela. It also decided to establish a separate police station at Deoghar temple.
The police station will be dedicated to the temple and the nearby areas and its police personnel will specifically look after the crowd management aspect.
At present a police outpost at the temple looks after the law and order in the area. Basukinath will also get a police post.
The decisions were taken at the first meeting of Deoghar-Basukinath Shrine Board, chaired by CM Raghubar Das, at project building in Ranchi.
New roads will be built to improve connectivity. "The road between Baidyanath Dham and Basukinath (lying 30km apart) will be converted into a four-lane and an alternative route, a 26km road, will be constructed between the two shrines," said Das, adding, "the alternate route would be constructed under MGNREGA and trees would be lined up on either side of the road."
Tourism minister Amar Kumar Bauri, Godda MP Nishikant Dubey, Jarmundi MLA Badal Patralekh, chief secretary Rajiv Gauba and senior officials participated in the meeting, besides members of Panda Dharma Rakshini Sabha, the principal body of the temple priests.
Das ordered cleaning of the Mansarovar pond situated near Baidyanath Dham to enrich the ground water recharge of the area.
"The state government will request the ministry of railways to improve facilities at Jasidih and Deoghar railway stations so that the devotees feel good when they come to the temple town," Das said.