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Pushkaram: 4 killed in stampede, one drowned

By A. Saye Sekhar

 

 

 

 
Devotees taking a holy dip at Durga Ghat in Vijayawada on Saturday on the occasion of Krishna Pushkaram. - Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

 

 

VIJAYAWADA, AUG. 28. The much-publicised Krishna Pushkarams took a tragic turn on the very first day today claiming five lives - four in a stampede and another due to drowning — near the concrete apron downstream the Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada. As many as 15 persons were injured in the stampede that occurred around 6 am.

Those who were killed in the stampede were identified as Lakshmibai(58), Appala Naidu(10), P. Shanker Rao(65) and Vijayalakshmi(60). Purna Ramana Seshu(23), an engineering student, was drowned.

The stampede occurred on the narrow causeway leading to the apron when thousands of pilgrims forced their way down a ramp resulting in the collapse of a railing.

Moral responsibility

 

The Chief Minister, Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy, called on members of the bereaved families and the injured persons at the Government General Hospital (GGH) in the city around noon. Stating that the State Government was owning up moral responsibility for the tragedy, Dr. Reddy announced that the Krishna district Collector, K. Prabhakara Reddy, and the Commissioner of Police, T. Krishna Prasad, were transferred. He said they should get relieved within 24 hours. 

The State BC Welfare Commissioner, T. Vijaya Kumar, who was in Vijayawada as Special Officer for Pushkarams, was appointed Collector while the Deputy Inspector-General of Eluru Range, T. Narasimha Murthy, was made the in-charge Commisioner of the city police. 

Dr. Reddy also announced an ex gratia of Rs. 2 lakhs each to the kin of the victims and Rs. 10,000 each to the injured persons. Twelve of the injured persons were admitted to the hospital. One woman, who fractured her hip joint, would be given a compensation of Rs. 25,000. 

The State Government would bear the medical, food and other expenses of the injured till they were discharged.

The Government suspended the Superintending Engineer concerned and eight other officials of the Irrigation Department. Officials belonging to the revenue, police and municipal administration, who were responsible for the works carried out near the apron, were also placed under suspension. He said that the Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA), R.C. Samal, who was in the rank of a Special Chief Secretary, was appointed the Commission of Inquiry to probe into the circumstances leading to the accident and fix responsibility on the officials concerned.