Survivors of the Venkateswara Swamy temple tragedy in Kasibugga town of Srikakulam district have blamed the use of a single narrow gate for both entry and exit, weak infrastructure, and complete lack of crowd control for the stampede-like situation that killed nine devotees and injured several others on Saturday.
According to a PTI report, devotees said chaos broke out when the only gate was suddenly opened, allowing those who had completed their darshan to exit even as another wave of worshippers tried to enter. The resulting crush caused people to fall over one another, and a weak steel grill gave way, trapping several devotees underneath.
“The approach to the temple is very narrow. There were many people and only a single entry and exit point. As people jostled, we fell down. The steel grill was also very weak. The grill people were holding onto broke, and everybody fell,” recalled an autorickshaw driver from Dharmapuram village, who survived the tragedy. He said about 20 devotees from his village had travelled in two autorickshaws to the temple.
“A boy who was also standing under the grill died. He was about 12 years old,” he said quietly.
Another survivor, a woman undergoing treatment at the hospital, said the temple management had first closed the gate after letting some devotees in and then suddenly reopened it. “Opening the gate at once led to those coming out pushing against us,” she said. “I fell down, and three people fell on me.”
Another male survivor said the crowd was pushing against the closed gate when it suddenly opened from the other side. “Those returning came down with force. Because of their pressure, the people standing near the door and on the staircase could not stand. They all fell over one another,” he said, adding that the tragedy could have been avoided if the temple management had used separate routes for entry and exit. “There were provisions, but they did not use them.”
A woman who broke her leg in the incident said she had come for darshan on the auspicious ‘Ekadasi’ day. “As people fell on me, my leg got stuck in a rod and broke. My husband is a kidney patient undergoing dialysis, and now this has happened,” she said, breaking down.
Another woman from Tekkali mandal, attending to her injured husband at the hospital, said devotees too shared some responsibility but criticised the lack of arrangements. “We saw the crowd and still went ahead. But the temple authorities should have stopped us,” she said. “There weren’t even basic facilities like drinking water. Had police been deployed, this might have been prevented.”
A doctor treating the injured told PTI that nearly 30 people were admitted to local hospitals. “Most came with fractures and breathing difficulties. We gave first aid to all of them,” he said.
At least nine devotees, eight women and a 13-year-old boy, were killed in the incident, which occurred during ‘Ekadashi’ in the holy month of Karthikamasam, when an unexpectedly large number of devotees arrived for darshan. The temple, which can accommodate about 2,000 people, reportedly saw a surge of nearly 25,000 devotees, leading to an uncontrollable crowd crush.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the temple was constructed and operated by a private individual and accused the organisers of failing to inform the police or local authorities about the large gathering. “Had they informed us, we would have provided police protection and controlled the crowd,” Naidu said, adding that a full-fledged probe has been ordered and strict action would be taken against those responsible.
Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy confirmed that the temple was privately managed and not linked to the Endowments Department or the state government. “Action will be taken against those responsible, and steps will be implemented to prevent similar incidents at privately managed temples in the future,” he said.
State Agriculture Minister Kinjarapu Atchannaidu and Union Minister for Civil Aviation K. Ramamohan Naidu visited the temple to oversee rescue and relief operations. Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the tragedy, with the latter announcing an ex gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.
Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan called for stricter crowd management protocols, especially in privately operated temples, while IT Minister Nara Lokesh said the government was ensuring “the best possible medical treatment” for the injured.
As grief and anger gripped Kasibugga, the survivors’ words captured the pain of a tragedy that could have been prevented. “We go to see God to seek blessings,” said one woman at the hospital. “But that day, we were struggling just to breathe.”
(With inputs from PTI and ENS)
