Andhra stampede: Tragedy strikes Godavari Pushkaram, 27 pilgrims feared dead

Rajahmundry Twenty seven pilgrims 23 of them women died in a stampede on Tuesday on the banks of the Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh on the first day of a major religious festival Godavari PushkaramPilgrims surged towards one of the gates that allows access to the river banks and a group of women slipped causing the stampede said officials The incident took place between 730 am and 8 am on the opening day of the 12day event after gates were opened for people to take holy dip in the Godavari riverIndian devotees gather after a stampede at a religious festival in Godavari in the Rajahmundry district some 200 kms northeast of Hyderabad on July 14 2015 The death toll from a stampede July 14 2015 on the banks of a holy river in southern India PicPTIWe have received crowd of more than the capacity of the ghat here which is about 15000 whereas we today had about 50000 outside the Ghat There was pushing and pulling between the crowd coming out of the Ghat and those entering East Godavari Collector Arun Kumar saidThe stampede happened soon after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his family members left the place after taking holy dip in the river Out of several Pushkar Ghats in the East Godavari district people in particular had thronged in tens of thousands to this place apparently taken in by publicity blitzkrieg that it is the most holiest among them officials saidThey said that Rajahmundry town was highlighted in all advertisements on Pushkaram while other areas where the river flows were reportedly not given due importance leading to people converging largely giving a gobye to other ghatsOfficials also said the government setting a Muhurtham auspicious time at 626 am on Tuesday for the commencement of Pushkaram prompted people to reach the spot at this hour to take a dip Andhra Pradesh DGP J V Ramudu said 27 people including 23 women lost their lives in the incident which officials said also left 2530 people injuredAccording to officials the women were in the age group of 5060 Most of the victims had been waiting since early hours Some of them were also tired as they had travelled long distances to reach here and there is also a possibility they might have died due to suffocation Rajahmundry SubCollector Vijay Ramaraju saidThere was a sudden rush on this particular ghat despite several ghats being earmarked for the convenience of the devotees within the vicinity It may be that they had a feeling that this particular ghat Pushkar ghat where the incident happened is the holy one DGP Ramudu said adding there was a lot of jostling and pushing among the large crowdA devotee who is yet to recover from the shock of the death of his wife and mother in the tragedy said police personnel had not been deployed in sufficient numbers to control the crowdHe said most areas of the ghat where the stampede took place were closed for about two hours to facilitate VIPs including the Chief Minister to take a dip in the river Lamenting the death of her mother Vijayalakshmi a woman from Visakhapatnam said there was a mad rush and even before they realised what was happening we were overpowered by the surging crowdMany pilgrims also complained that gates were not opened to enter the ghat which led to the stampede and that drinking water was not available for those who were in the queues The Chief Minister termed the incident as very unfortunate and shocking I have come here many times and tried to ensure that the event is held smoothly But some problems cropped up in execution Naidu said adding an enquiry would be conductedCondoling the deaths he announced an exgratia of Rs 10 lakh per family of the deceased Governor E S L Narasimhan who spoke to Naidu too conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families and appealed to the pilgrims to maintain peace and tranquility and ensure that the holy dip is taken in an orderly mannerSlamming the AP government former Union Minister Chiranjeevi said Naidu claimed to have made grand arrangements but it all came to nought Godavari Pushkaram is observed once in 12 years but this time it is considered auspicious from astronomical point of view as it is Maha Pushkaralu which comes once in 144 years The Pushkaram is a similar to the Kumbh Mela performed alongside rivers elsewhere in the country and taking holy dip is the main ritual of the festivalMeanwhile YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy Andhra Pradesh Congress president N Raghuveera Reddy his party colleague and MP Chiranjeevi Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and a number of other leaders condoled the deaths in the stampede