The Sai Baba temple at Mylapore is immensely popular and draws numerous devotees. And the Sai Baba temple at Jaishankar Street, West Mambalam, is not far behind. It too attracts devotees from all parts of the city, especially on Thursdays, when many worshippers descend on the temple, which causes a traffic problem in the area.
Till October this year, beat officers of the Ashok Nagar Police Station helped in traffic and crowd management outside the termple. Not anymore. The management has now employed a private security agency to attend to this work -- a move promoted by the fact that the beat officers stopped assisting the temple management.
Devotees and the temple management say the police presence was a great help, and helped keep the order in the area.
“Around 7,000 to 10,000 people visit the temple on Thursdays alone. In the morning, 600 people come for annadanam. Given the number of visitors, the possibility of crime is high. We have been requesting the police to once again regulate traffic and crowd outside the temple,” says one of the trustees.
Left with no option, the management has employed a private security agency to provide security at the temple’s entrance.
Also, on Thursdays, both the entries to Jaishankar Street are blocked and only vehicles of residents and commercial establishments are allowed inside.
“We had got permission from the police to place barricades to avoid haphazard parking on the street,” he adds.
“The temple is an important religious centre in West Mambalam. Security is essential here,” says Rajaram, a devotee, who comes from K.K. Nagar every Thursday.
Established in 2008, the temple has grown in significance in a short time. It conducts various charity activities, such as giving out scholarships to 1,500 school and college students, providing medical assistance to the financially disadvantaged who are undergoing surgeries, donating dress material to leprosy patients every month and conducting annual health and blood donation camps.
