Amaravathi: Six devotees died including five women and scores were reportedly injured in the stampede caused during the distribution of tokens for the Mukkoti Ekadasi Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan in Tirupathi in advance on Wednesday evening. One of the deceased women was reported to have come from Salem in Tamil Nadu.
The Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams Trust Board (TTD) has established 8 centers in Tirupathi and 1 center in Tirumala for issuing tokens to the devotees wishing to have Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan of Lord Venkateshwara on January 10, 11 and 12, during the Vaikuntha Ekadasi annual event. They had planned to issue 1.3 lakh tokens in three days starting at 5 am Thursday, January 9.
The devotees who had come from various states including Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana had gathered by Wednesday evening so they could get their tokens as early as possible on Thursday morning.
Tokens were being given out at various centers at Srinivasam, Vishnu Nivasam, Ramachandra Pushkarini, Alipiri Bhudevi Complex, Emmarpalli ZPHS, Bairagipatteda Ramanaidu School, Satyanarayanapuram ZPHS and Indira Maidan in Tirupathi town.
The stampede happened at Vishnu Nivasam where the six devotees died, and also at the Bairagipatteda Ramanaidu School where scores of devotees were injured.
The devotees waiting for tokens at Vishnu Nivasam were made to wait inside the Padmavathi Park so that the roads could be clear of the crowd. However, when one of the staff, a person issuing the tokens fell sick, the police opened the gates to send him for medical treatment.
When that happened, the crowd waiting in the queue thought that the gate was opened and they rushed towards the token counter, when the stampede happened.
The injured were shifted to Sri Venkateshwara Ramnarayan Ruia General Hospital and Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) for treatment.
One of the devotees told media that he has been coming for the annual visit since several years, but for the first time in Bairagipatteda, there were more devotees who had come than expected. He said that he was the first to face the wrath of devotees stomping on his chest, and said that another another standing near him broke his leg in the stampede.
Precious 30 minutes lost due to negligence of ambulance staff
According to the eye-witnesses, there were 8 devotees who fell unconscious at Vishnu Nivasam during the stampede. Despite the police giving CPR and mounting the victims on the ambulances, because of the ambulance drivers not being available and taking almost 30 minutes to shift them, precious lives have been lost.
Will of god, says TTD chairman BR Naidu
TTD chairman BR Naidu said that in one token issuing center the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) opening the gates has caused the stampede at Vishnu Nivasam.
Speaking with the media, he said that when a lady had fallen sick, the gate for the counter was opened and that was when the devotees tried to push their way in, resulting in the stampede. He said that he had no information about the stampede incident at the other centres.
“It is the will of the god. There is nothing we can do about it other than condemn it and help those who are injured,” he told the media.
Pressure shoudn’t have been put on Tirupathi
Former TTD chairman Srinivasa Raju, speaking with media, felt that the incident wouldn’t have happened had the tokens been issued in Tirumala instead of Tirupathi.
“The way we can manage crowd in Tirumala can’t be done in Tirupathi. Even if there is a 7 km queue in Tirumala it could have been handled. It used to act as a safety valve for the pressure cooker,” he noted.
He opined that putting more pressure on Tirupathi could have caused the mismanagement of crowd, resulting in the stampede.
AP CM Chandrababu to meet the injured in Tirupathi on Thursday
Expressing his anguish against the mismanagement of the entire process, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu held a video conference with all the officials concerned and told them that this unfortunate incident shouldn’t have happened.
Naidu questioned why prior arrangements weren’t made despite the officials knowing that the devotees were going to come in massive numbers before the Mukkoti Vaikuntha Ekadasi.
He ordered the officials to provide the best treatment for the injured.
He will be visiting Tirupathi to meet the injured at around 11.45 am on Thursday, January 9.
Naidu is expected to announce ex-gratia for the victims on Thursday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy expressed their deepest condolences for the human loss caused due to the stampede.
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