Jaipur: The principal seat of Rajasthan High Court has constituted a committee headed by Jodhpur divisional commissioner to oversee sanitation, medical facilities and law and order arrangements at Ramdevra temple in Jaisalmer where devotees are gathering.A division bench of Justices Munnuri Laxman and Chandra Shekhar Sharma passed the order on Sept 7 while disposing of a public interest litigation filed by Mahendra Kumar Mehta, seeking basic facilities for devotees visiting the temple.Mehta told the court that devotees congregate at the temple from Aug 21 onwards and the heavy inflow has created problems related to sanitation, healthcare and law and order. “The existing infrastructure was inadequate to handle the large number of devotees visiting the temple daily. The daily footfall at the temple was in the range of 2-3 lakh devotees, with large congregations extending up to 1-2 km from the temple. The inadequate sanitation could lead to the spread of diseases and affect the fundamental right to life. The petitioner also raised concerns about healthcare and security arrangements,” said the petitioner.The state, however, informed the court that certain basic facilities were already available near the temple and authorities were taking additional steps to meet the requirements arising from the increased inflow of devotees.The bench observed that the “state was required to ensure healthcare and law and order arrangements and take steps to prevent incidents such as stampedes and the spread of contagious diseases”.The court, after hearing the arguments, ordered that a committee be constituted to oversee the arrangements in coordination with the trust managing the temple. The court ordered that the committee would be headed by divisional commissioner, Jodhpur, and include Jaisalmer district collector, district superintendent of police, chief medical and health officer and chairman of the private trust managing the temple.
