Puri, March.20 : The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has registered a case against the Jagannath temple administration over devotees having to wait in long queues daily under the scorching sun sans any amenities before they can have a glimpse of the deities. The case was registered against the temple administration in response to a complaint filed by Puri Vikash Parishad President Jagannath Bastia Bastia in his complaint stated that because of the gross negligence of the temple administration, every day lakhs of pilgrims have to suffer before they can have a glimpse of the Trinity of the Jagannath temple. The temple administration, he alleged, did precious little to provide amenities for the comfort of pilgrims, many of whom have to stand for hours in the scorching heat before they can enter the Srimandir to have darshan of the lords. In his petition, Bastia said neither the temple administration nor the district or m cipal administration erected temporary sunshades to give relief to the devotees despite the queues often stretching for 1.5 km till the M cipal Market square. This apart, pilgrims standing in queues were unable to get drinking water. There was little provision for senior citizens, differently-abled devotees and elderly women wishing to enter the temple for darshan of lord Jagannath , his elder brotherBalabhadra and sister devi Subhadra He further complained of “gross mismanagement and no regulatory mechanism” inside the temple near Jagamohan and Natamandop areas, thus denying facilities to provide hassle-free glimpses of the deities. Many servitors stand in front of the deities with their plates to collect donation from devotees, obstructing viewing of the deities. Pickpocketing, ornament snatching cases and misbehaving devotees inside the Srimandir are on the rise, Bastia pointed out. These incidents, he said, are happening regularly while there is little supervision by authorities to address the hardship faced by the visiting pilgrims. On March 18, there was a near=stampede situation as pilgrims waiting for hours in queue under the heat suddenly rushed to the temple main gate (Simhadwar) breaking the barricades. Many forced their way in through the corridor created for the use of the servitors. Fortunately, there was no casualty. According to sources, darshan was closed for hours because of a delay in nitee. As the heat became unbearable with every passing hour, many devotees who had been standing in queue since early morning, fell unconscious and were rushed to hospital. As soon as the darshan began, hundreds of devotees rushed to the main gate leading to a scuffle with the outnumbered security personnel watching helplessly. Later more police were deployed and the situation was brought under control. A senior temple servitor Binayak Dasmahapatra said THE temple administration should allow entry and exit of devotees through all four temple doors instead of only through the main gate of Simhadwar. Since the temple opened for devotees after a gap of two years and Dola Purnima ritual and Holi festival were in progress, the administration should have made adequate arrangements for the devotees, Dasmahapatra said. The Srimandir administration has laid the carpets for the devotees on the road to minimise the heat from blacktopped Badadanda. The Sunshade is only a hundred metres long from the main gate, which is far short in length to provide protection to devotees standing in 1.5 km long queue. The District Collector Samarth Verma and Superintendent of police K.Vishal Singh, however, have assured to address the difficulties of the pilgrims at the earliest. XC DP SSP