TTD, police come under fire
YSRCP senior leader and former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy speaking to the media in Tirupati on Thursday
Tirupati: The Opposition party leaders squarely blamed the TTD, temple management and district police for the stampede, in which six devotees died and over 50 people injured.
In one voice they criticised that TTD and police totally failed in anticipating the crowd at the counters set up for issuance of Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam tickets and also in taking required measures for regulating crowd and public safety.
‘TTD for over a month gave publicity for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam arrangements, giving unnecessary hype. But the ground reality is that there are no proper arrangements and lack of coordination between TTD and police resulted in the tragedy,’ they said.
They pointed out that TTD’s announcement that devotees will not be allowed without darshan tickets or tokens to Tirumala caused anxiety among devotees, who reached Tirupati from far off places in big numbers to get tokens for Vaikunta Ekadasi.
YSRCP senior leader and former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, speaking to the media on Thursday, said CM N Chandrababu Naidu should take the responsibility for the tragedy, which never happened earlier in Tirupati.
He demanded severe action on TTD EO J Syamala Rao, Additional EO Ch Venkaiah Chowdary, district SP L Subba Rayudu and other officials concerned responsible for the stampede. CM Naidu and Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan focussed only on attacking YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, leaving the administration to dogs, he criticised.
Tirupati MP Dr M Gurumoorthy alleged that no proper plan and lack of coordination among officials caused the stampede and urged TTD and the government to ensure treatment to the injured till they recover and return home.
CPM senior leader and TTD Contract Employees Union honorary president Kandarapu Murali attributed human error as the cause for the stampede and criticised that TTD has miserably failed to control the crowd, even after knowing that thousands of people throng Tirumala for Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam.
He pointed out that devotees gathered at the ticket issuing counters since Wednesday morning and the crowd swelled by noon, but police and TTD officials failed to notice it and take immediate measures to contain the rush.
PCC vice-president Doddareddy Rambhoopal Reddy, general secretary T Venkata Narasimhulu and city president Gowdapera Chittibabu criticised that TTD gave wide publicity, hence thousands of people from various places and other States gathered at the counters. Alleging that without proper arrangements and lack of coordination led to stampede, they demanded punishment to all those responsible for the tragedy.
Others including CPI State secretary K Rama Krishna, BCY party chief Ramachandra Yadav, also criticised TTD, police and district administration for their failure in taking proper steps to control the crowd.