SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Jan 11: Expecting heavy rush of devotees in the Baba Baidyanath temple on the occasion of Makar Sankranti (January 14/15), the Deoghar District Disaster Management (DDM) has issued new safety guidelines for the worshipers.
DDM chairman cum deputy commissioner (DC) of Deoghar Manjunath Bhajantri has ordered to allow only those devotees in the temple on the auspicious day who have taken both doses of Covid vaccination.
As per official records, every year more than a lakh devotees from different districts of Jharkhand and other states especially from Bihar come to Deoghar for worshiping Baba Baidyanath on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.
“Since Covid infection is spreading fast in the 3rd wave, such restriction would help in providing safety to devotees,” an official said.
In the last 24 hours, till Monday night, Deoghar has recorded 173 new cases in the district. Total active cases are 877.
For the facility of devotees, DC Manjunath Bhajantri has also directed for ensuring proper arrangement of RAT testing and thermal scanning at all entry points of temple premises.
“Devotees would be allowed entry into premises only after Covid testing from a safety point of view,” said the DC.
Manjunath Bhajantri has also requested Panda Dharmrakshni Mahasabha members to help in implementing safety guidelines so that no devotee enters the temple without double doses of vaccination.
The district administration has also announced a route chart of the temple for the visitors along with a list of police officials as well as executive magistrate to control the crowd (devotees) on the auspicious day of Makar Sankranti.
