At least nine people died in a stampede at the Venkateswara Swamy temple located in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh on Saturday. The dead included eight women and a boy and several others were injured. President Draupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and many other leaders expressed grief over this.
According to Andhra Pradesh Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha, this temple is private and not under the Endowments Department.
He said, “Usually 1,500 to 2,000 devotees visit this temple every Saturday. Today the tragedy became worse as the festival of Ekadashi coincided with the month of Kartik. Hence, a huge crowd gathered. The temple is situated at a height on the first floor and when the devotees were climbing, the railing broke, resulting in people standing at the corner falling on each other.”
Meanwhile, President Draupadi Murmu expressed condolences. In a post on X, she said, “I am shocked to learn about the loss of lives and property in the tragic incident at Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund to the families of the deceased and Rs 2,000 to the injured.
“Saddened by the stampede at the Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. My thoughts are with those who have lost their loved ones. I pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” he said in a post on Twitter.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah also expressed grief over this incident. He said, “A person constructed the Venkateswara Swamy temple in Kasibugga. On the auspicious occasion of Kartik month, many devotees had gone there for darshan. He did not inform the police. If he had informed in advance, police protection would have been provided and the crowd could have been controlled.”
Chief Minister Naidu said, “This is really very painful. I strongly condemn it. Innocent lives have been lost. We will take this incident seriously. Whoever is responsible will be detained and a thorough investigation will be conducted.”
A survivor from Dharmapuram village near Ichchapuram said the road to the temple was narrow, with only one entry and exit point, which led to crowding of devotees on both sides and chaos.
A devotee said, “We fell down due to people pushing and shoving. The steel grill was also very weak. The grill, which provided support, broke, and everyone fell down. Twenty of us came in two autorickshaws. I am an auto driver. I had also gone for darshan. I was there and the boy (who died) was also under those grills.”
It is noteworthy that at least seven of the dead are in the age group of 35-40 years. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed grief over the incident and said that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the incident.
Addressing a meeting in Sri Sathya Sai district, Naidu accused the organizers of not informing the police in advance, due to which adequate security arrangements could not be made.
Srikakulam district Superintendent of Police (SP) KV Maheshwar Reddy said it is mandatory for temples (or religious institutions) to seek permission from the police while organizing events, no matter the size of the crowd.
“It is definitely mandatory under the Public Safety Act. They can ask for any number of people. It is not that only 200 or 2,000 people come. Even if 200 people come, they can inform us and we will assess the situation, make arrangements based on that,” Reddy told PTI.
Incidentally, the police also provided security to other temples in North Andhra district today, but the SP said that the owner of this particular temple, Mukund Panda, failed to inform them.
According to Reddy, Panda constructed and opened the temple without the requisite permissions.
95-year-old Mukund Panda, who built the temple, told the media that he did not expect so many people to visit the temple as he had never seen such a huge crowd before.
Meanwhile, the SP said that a case is being registered under charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Earlier, Reddy had said that nine people died in the accident.
“There were nine deaths. Only nine, one person is in a slightly critical condition. He is not dead. There is a child there, 12 years old; all the rest (victims) are girls. And this is a private temple. It is not a government temple. It was constructed recently,” Reddy said.
The police officer clarified that the incident occurred due to the fall of the railing near the stairs, leading to a stampede there. People felt that something was falling and got scared. They fell from a height of about six feet. He further explained that since it happened from a height of six feet, one person fell on the other and that is why the accident happened.
He said, “It is completely an accident and happened due to negligence of the owner. He has not applied for police settlement, nor was there any permission.”
A doctor at a government hospital in Palasa said around 30 people had come with injuries and breathing problems. Many people had broken arms and legs and were given first aid.
Naidu directed the officials to ensure better treatment of the injured. He also directed officials and local leaders to monitor relief operations at the stampede site.