THOOTHUKUDI/CHENNAI: A woman buttermilk vendor was crushed to death on the spot and two others were critically injured as a section of the outer 'prakara' of the Sri Subramanyaswamy temple at Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district, unexpectedly collapsed on Thursday.
A section of the outer 'prakara mandapam' of the temple, built in 1971 by the veteran film producer and Muruga devotee, late "Sandow" M M A Chinnappa Thevar, which was recently felt to be weak near the north entrance of the temple, unfortunately collapsed at around 10.15 am on Thursday, killing the buttermilk seller, Petchiammal (42) wife of Athinarayanan of Mutharamman Koil street, Tiruchendur, on the spot.
Two others, a tea vendor, P Senthil Arumugam (64) of Tiruchendur and a devotee, Kandhasamy (74) of Perumalnallur, Tirupur, were critically hurt.
On information about the mishap, the district collector, N Venkatesh and SP, Mahendran rushed to the spot and inspected the scene of collapse. Two more pillars in a dilapidated condition on the spot were immediately demolished on the collector's order.
Making all arrangements for the treatment of the injured persons at Tirunelveli Medical college hospital and for the autopsy of the woman killed, the district collector said that a special team under the superintending engineer of PWD (Buildings) has been constituted to ensure the stability of all the structures in the temple premises.
The HR&CE minister, Sevoor S. Ramachand-ran, who visited the temple along with the HR&CE commissioner, Ms. Jaya, later in the afternoon handed over the Chief Minister-announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of Petchiammal killed in the mishap.
The minister, who also visited the injured persons undergoing treatment at the hospital gave a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to their respective family members.
Later speaking to media, the HR&CE minister said that the entire 1760-metre stretch of the outer temple 'Prakara Mandapam' would be demolished and a new 'Mandapam' built for the safety of the devotees.
The state vice-president of Hindu Munnani, V P Jeyakumar, who had submitted a petition to the Chief Minister, Edappadi K. Palaniswami during his visit to Thoothukudi for the MGR centenary celebration on November 22, demanding to demolish the dilapidated structure to ensure the safety of the devotees, alleged that the mishap occurred due to gross negligence on the part of the HR&CE officials and the government.
CM orders review of temple buildings
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Thursday condoled the death of a woman at Sri Subramaniaswamy temple in Tiruchendur in Thoothukudi district and asked the HR&CE authorities to undertake safety audit of temple buildings across the state.
In a statement, Palaniswami announced a relief of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased, Pechiammal, and Rs 1 lakh each to Kandasamy and Senthil Arumugam, injured in the incident.
“I have directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Department to carry out a safety audit of temples in the state to ascertain their stability and to ensure such incidents do not recur,” Palaniswami said in the statement.
