Security concerns over power failure in Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple

published on February 22, 2013

The Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple faced power disruption twice on Thursday night, triggering security concerns at the temple. Senior police officials have referred to the matter as a serious ‘security threat’, with the inventorying of the contents of underground vaults going on.

According to temple staff, power supply was disrupted twice, in a span of one hour’s time. The first disruption took place at 7.20 p.m., with supply being restored in a few minutes time. However, supply was disrupted again during the time of ‘Seeveli’. The power failure lasted for as long as 15 minutes.

“The metal detectors placed at the Temple’s entrances also did not work during the power disruption on Thursday,” said a temple employee.

Senior police officials have stated that the incident is a matter of “security concern,” if not a “security threat.”

“All the CCTV cameras inside the temple have a power back-up for close to eight hours. However, if there is no light, these cameras can’t capture images. There are only a handful of infrared cameras at strategic points inside the Temple; devices which can ‘see’ even in the dark,” the senior police official said.

The temple has a generator. But in case of power failures, it does not function automatically. “An employee has to switch it on. When power was disrupted for the second time, all employees were reportedly busy with preparations for the ‘Seeveli.’ This is said to be the reason for the delay in switching on the generator,” said the senior security official.

“We had written to the electricity board pointing out the security threat to the temple and wanted them to ensure that there was no such disruption of power supply to the temple,” he added.

The KSE however stands defensive and attributed the power outage to the tripping of a power feeder at Kalady. “The second feeder at Sreekantaswaram, which also services the temple functioned normally,” said a KSEB employee.