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| Amid scorching heat, some religious places without power in Jammu | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, June 30: Even as the winter capital is witnessing scorching heat, the authorities have snapped power supplies to some religious places here.
In the latest, the power supply has been snapped to an ancient temple, the Pracheen Shiv Mandir, near Tawi Bridge near Press Club, here.
Upinder Singh, a managing trustee of the temple said the power supply has been snapped for the last few days. "They officials snapped the power connection pleading that it was an 'illegal' connection, but it has been so for decades. Why suddenly a change in the government policy," Singh told Early Times.
He said since then devotees have been facing inconvenience in offering Puja at the temple. Moreover, he said, the biggest problem has emerged for the aspiring Yatris putting up at the temple ahead of the Shri Amarnath Yatra pilgrimage.
"We have Sadhus from across the country putting up at the main hall of temple which has the capacity to accommodate around 200 devotees... It is difficult to offer them transit shelter in the absence of electricity," Singh added.
Likewise, the power supply has been snapped at the nearby Ram Temple. "The concerned should have discussed this matter with us prior to brazenly snapping the power supplies at this critical juncture," Singh said adding an ancient mosque in the area is also reeling under darkness. "This is a collective issue for all the communities."
The temple trustees said a similar issue had erupted in 2008 when the Power Development Department wanted to snap power supplies to temples. "But that time the then power minister Babu Singh had given standing instructions that religious places like temples, mosques and Gurudwaras, be exempted from the fee. Since then there was no such trouble but now the problem has resurfaced," the devotees said.
Trustees of such temples said they are unable to defend their case as this year the government has not kept any special summer Secretariat operational for the people of Jammu. "Till last year we would register our grievances at the special summer Secretariat where at-least one minister would be camping all the times. But this time we have been left to fend for ourselves," the devotees said.
They said since the era of Dogra Maharajas, the religious places would enjoy special privileges and incentives. "But it seems that the present government wants to deprive us of the same," the devotees said.
The concerned Executive Engineer, Power Development Department, Ashok Gupta, however, had a different story to narrate. He said the religious places in the area were being offered power supply from the transformer feeding a Pump Station of the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department.
"That transformer belonged to PHE and it got damaged some days back. But we are offering them alternative supply," the Executive Engineer said.
The management committees of the temples however refuted the PDD claims. "Our temples are reeling under darkness," they said.
Meanwhile the temple trustees have appealed Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh who also holds the power portfolio to personally look into the matter. |
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