VISHAKHAPATNAM: Endowments minister Kottu Satyanarayana has ordered an inquiry into the issuing of excess tickets by the Simhachalam Devasthanam staff in the denomination of Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,500, which led to crowding during the annual Chandanotsavam held on Sunday. The probe would be conducted by the district collector, Visakhapatnam, though officials themselves were accused of inept handling of the situations there.
Addressing a press conference along with Visakhapatnam collector A. Mallkharjuna and police commissioner Trivikram Varma here on Monday, the minister said, “The tickets were printed in excess without the knowledge of the district administration. Action would be taken on the errant, based on the inquiry.”
Explaining the other reasons for the chaos during the Sunday festival, the minister claimed that the crowds were “almost double of what was expected” by the district administration.
“Moreover, the weekend holiday brought in more devotees. In all 2.2 lakh people visited the shrine on Sunday. There were more VIPs this year to witness the festival. This too caused inconvenience to the devotees.”
“Fortunately there was no stampede. Darshan was stopped for some time for the convenience of the devotees,’’ Satyanarayana said.
The minister said a large number of vehicles moved on the single-lane ghat road, resulting in traffic jams. “The darshan from 4 am to 6.30 am went off smoothly without hassles. A breakdown of a private car at 7 am and two cars at 11 am caused the roadblock on the ghat road. Later in the evening, between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm, the traffic was affected due to the breakdown of an RTC bus.”
He said the devotees were given free buttermilk, water and biscuits along the queue line. Some 82 permanent toilets were built on the hills and 55 at the base while 75 mobile toilets were also functional. Free lunch was given to all the devotees.
In order to prevent traffic jams in the future, the minister said he would propose to the Chief Minister the erection of a second ghat road to the Simhachalam Hill.
