Such was the tide of pilgrims at the Pushkar bathing ghat in Rajahmundry that even Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s convoy was marooned when he arrived for his early morning holy dip in the Godavari.
Advertisement
Naidu visited various ghats after midnight to review the arrangements.
East Godavari District Collector H Arun Kumar said pilgrims were being “evenly” diverted to various ghats and there is now no pressure at any particular point. Though the AP government allocated Rs 1,650 crore for the Godavari pushkaralu, the arrangements were far from satisfactory, which led to the avoidable tragedy which claimed 27 precious lives in the stampede, he said. He promised to stay in Rajahmundry until pushkarams are over, if necessary.
Andhra Pradesh DGP, J V Ramudu, and senior police officials are monitoring the situation as the number of pilgrims is expected to swell in the coming days.
Maha Pushkaram is a grand event which comes once in every 144 years whereas Pushkaram comes once in every 12 years.
The authorities have identified 151 ghats for the holy dip in East Godavari district.
After inspecting various ghats here late last night, he told reporters that a retired judge will be appointed to conduct a probe and strict action will be taken against those held responsible.
“I have inspected the ghats along with officials and enquired if there is trouble”. When the celebration is already expected to be big, it is the minimum responsibility of the government to take care of all the arrangements.
“For the last four months we have been taking all necessary measures to prevent any untoward incident, particularly at the time of taking bath and returning from ghats”. As he has ignored it, he is responsible for the death of more than 30 persons who died in the stampede, Jagan said. He asked officials to clear the misconception among people that the holy dip should be taken only at Pushkar Ghat.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the government has stepped up security after yesterday’s incident, and has installed a public address system.
