Chamundi Hill remains sans police station despite being a tourist destination

Mysuru: Besides the residents and VIP flow, the Chamundi Hill in Mysuru sees a huge foot fall, but there is no separate police station yet.

While Ashada Friday celebrations atop the Chamundi Hill will begin this Friday, a missing gold earring and jhumka of a devotee at Sri Chamundeshwari Devi temple reflected on several security lapses.

Among 42 CCTV cameras, only six are of high resolution (5MP) inside the temple. The rest are low resolution ones. Even though a large number of devotees visit the Chamundi Hill, there is no provision to lodge a complaint at the police outpost atop the Hill.

The devotees have to come all the way, travelling 12 km to Krishna Raja Police Station in Agrahara, to lodge a complaint.

Over 2,500 people reside atop the Chamundi Hill. Besides VIPs, at least 10,000 people visit the temple every day; more than 25,000 people visit during weekends and holidays; 1.5 lakh people are expected on each Ashada Friday. Although there is a proposal for separate police station for the hill, it is yet to materialise.

"With the support of Sri Chamundeshwari Kshethra Development Authority Secretary (SCKDA) M J Roopa and police on the hill, CCTV cameras, with high resolution, inside the temple were checked. The earring on the left side was seen near Sri Anjaneya idol, but not near Sri Ganapathi idol. As there are no CCTV cameras in between, it could not be traced if it fell down or if it was snatched or who picked it.

About five years ago, I lost my purse in the Hill during an Ashada Friday. The situation hasn't changed much since then. Then also, due to poor resolution of CCTV cameras, it could not be traced. Even then, I had to go to the KR Police station to lodge a complaint. Devotees from different parts of the world come here. It would be convenient if they can lodge a complaint at Chamundi Hill in case of an emergency," the devotee who lost her ear ring said.

KR Police Station sources said that they have a provision to give an acknowledgement for a complaint related to Chamundi Hill only in their station. Hence, the complaints are received at the station only.

SCKDA Secretary Roopa said, "During Ashada Fridays, more than 100 AI based CCTV cameras would be installed atop the Hill and at the parking area near Lalitha Mahal Palace. We are also installing 30 temporary high resolution cameras inside the temple. There is a proposal to install 50 permanent high resolution cameras inside the temple".