BHUBANESWAR: Chaos, confusion and commotion prevailed at the iconic Sun Temple at Konark on Tuesday. Thousands of visitors barged into Konark Sun Temple after a computerised ticketing system at the entrance of the popular tourist site faced technical glitch on Tuesday. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the custodian of the major tourist attraction of the state, said a huge throng of crowds and inadequate security arrangement by the police led to such a mess.
Sources said, thousands of tourists were on a queue for getting an entry ticket into the iconic heritage site on Tuesday. But due to some technical snag the tickets cannot be issued. Losing their patience due to the delay the irate mob forcefully entered the Sun Temple premises pushing aside security personnel and staff of the ASI. Many tourists were seen jumping the boundary walls and breaking through the security bars to enter the Sun Temple premise.
“Technical glitch can happen anytime in machines. We faced this technical problem for the first time since the e-ticketing system started at Konark Sun Temple. But there were several other means of making tickets but there were so much crowds that went berserk before steps could be taken to manage them,” said Arun Malik, superintending archeologist of ASI, Bhubaneswar.
On Tuesday more than 10,000 visitors thronged the tourist site as the queue was more than two km long. The server of the computerized ticketing system broke down at around 10.15 am, keeping the people waiting for about an hour.
Malik said, policing at the entrance was poor compared to the huge throng of crowds. “Law and order at the site was managed by the local police and administration. We have very limited staff to manage the crowd. I have already spoken to the police and local administration to improve security arrangements at the site so that such things will not happen again in future,” he added.
Tourists from across the state also expressed disappointment over the crowd management system at one of the most popular tourist sites of the state. “Sun Temple at Konark is undoubtedly the most visited tourist site of Odisha. If this is the kind of management and facilities at peak tourist season, how can the state claim to give the best tourism experience to tourists?” said Sutapa Sengupta, a tourist from West Bengal.
Sources said, thousands of tourists were on a queue for getting an entry ticket into the iconic heritage site on Tuesday. But due to some technical snag the tickets cannot be issued. Losing their patience due to the delay the irate mob forcefully entered the Sun Temple premises pushing aside security personnel and staff of the ASI. Many tourists were seen jumping the boundary walls and breaking through the security bars to enter the Sun Temple premise.
“Technical glitch can happen anytime in machines. We faced this technical problem for the first time since the e-ticketing system started at Konark Sun Temple. But there were several other means of making tickets but there were so much crowds that went berserk before steps could be taken to manage them,” said Arun Malik, superintending archeologist of ASI, Bhubaneswar.
On Tuesday more than 10,000 visitors thronged the tourist site as the queue was more than two km long. The server of the computerized ticketing system broke down at around 10.15 am, keeping the people waiting for about an hour.
Malik said, policing at the entrance was poor compared to the huge throng of crowds. “Law and order at the site was managed by the local police and administration. We have very limited staff to manage the crowd. I have already spoken to the police and local administration to improve security arrangements at the site so that such things will not happen again in future,” he added.
Tourists from across the state also expressed disappointment over the crowd management system at one of the most popular tourist sites of the state. “Sun Temple at Konark is undoubtedly the most visited tourist site of Odisha. If this is the kind of management and facilities at peak tourist season, how can the state claim to give the best tourism experience to tourists?” said Sutapa Sengupta, a tourist from West Bengal.
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