TIRUPATI: In all, 32 devotees injured in the stampede at the Vaikunta Dwara Sarva Darshan token distribution centre at Bairagipatteda in Tirupati, were discharged from SVR Ruia Government General Hospital on Thursday. It may be noted here that six devotees were killed in the stampede. The victims were identified as B Naidubabu (51) from Narsipatnam, Rajini (47), Lavanya (40), and Santhi (34) from Visakhapatnam, and Nirmala (50) from Ballari, Karnataka and Malliga (49) from Salem region of Tamil Nadu.
Post-mortem was conducted on the bodies at Ruia Hospital. All arrangements were made to transport the bodies to their respective hometowns.
A ministerial team, acting on the instructions from Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, visited Ruia Hospital to console the bereaved families, and assured them of the government’s support.
The team, including V Anitha (Home), Anagani Satya Prasad (Revenue and District Incharge), Anam Ramanarayana Reddy (Endowments), Kolusu Parthasarathy (Housing), and Nimmala Rama Naidu (Water Resources), along with District Collector S Venkateswar and Chandragiri MLA Pulivarthi Nani, reviewed the situation, and gathered details from the bereaved families.
The TTD had made arrangements to provide Vaikunta Dwara Darshan to over 7 lakh pilgrims from January 10 to 19. Eight centres with 90 counters in Tirupati, and one centre with four counters in Tirumala, were set up to issue Sarva Darshan tokens. All privileged darshans, including those for senior citizens, disabled persons, and NRIs, were cancelled to accommodate more number of common devotees. Over 3,000 policemen and 1,550 TTD personnel were deployed to ensure the smooth conduct of event.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Chairman BR Naidu termed the incident unfortunate, and expressed anger over administrative lapses, which led to the stampede. The stampede occurred due to the opening of the gates at the token distribution centre by a DSP prior to the scheduled time, which resulted in chaos.
Investigation revealed the lack of barricades and inadequate crowd management arrangements at the centre in Bairagipatteda, led to the stampede. Lapses in crowd management by police and TTD officials at the token distribution centres were exposed with the stampede. Sources revealed that TTD officials were advised not to allow large crowds at the token distribution centres to thwart any untoward incidents in view of the heavy rush.