Datta Jayanti held peacefully

Police criticised for poor traffic management

Though the organisers tried to perform pooja at 9 am, fire could not be lit in the Homakunda due to heavy wind and chill weather. However the fire was lit at 11 am and the pooja began. The devotees surrounded Homakunda so as to keep the flame in the Homakunda burning. VHP leader Shivshankar and Bajarang Dal regional convenor Sooryanarayan offered Poornahuti.

The Revenue department officers and police had a tough time convincing Atmananda Saraswati of Sridharashrama, Bangalore to leave the place as he sat for hours inside the cave after having darshan of ‘Paduke’.  Finally the officers had a sigh of relief when the cops moved him from his position at 12 pm.  

Young cops

One thing that was new and different this year was that only young policemen were deputed on duty at the Datta Jayanthi celebrations. The cops were within the age group of 40 years. It is said that for the first time it was made mandatory to appoint policemen aged less than 40 years. It was decided to appoint only the young cop as there have been many cases in the past of police falling ill in the hill due to heavy cold.

Police face criticism

The police force were prone to severe criticism from the public, as even this time the police failed to control the traffic on the road that leads to Datta peeta. Infact even the Superintendent of Police, Vikas Kumar’s vehicle was stuck in the traffic for hours which forced him to jump out of the car and try his hand in clearing the traffic. One of the senior citizens Shankar came down heavily on the police for their failure.

“Every year the district administration orders not to allow Long Chasis buses on the road leading to Datta Peeta. The police have never abided by this rule. The police will not learn a lesson till a gory incident takes place,” he criticised.

While a devotee from Bangalore, Ramesh said that traffic menace is a black mark on the entire event every year. Police take no interest to implement one way rule, he informed.
Western Range IGP Alok Kumar, Superintendent of Police Vikas Kumar, Additional SP Mitra Heraje were in-charge of the security.

MLA C T Ravi, D N Jeevaraj, M P Kumaraswami, MP D V Sadananda Gowda, VHP national leader Prakash Sharma and others were present.