Visakhapatnam: Suspense over Chandanotsavam’s failures continue to linger

Visakhapatnam: The annual ‘Chandanotsavam’ of Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy concluded last month at Simhachalam witnessed lapses. Scores of devotees faced inconvenience due to lack of facilities and delayed darshan during the festival.

Responding to the inconvenience of the devotees, the state government formed an inquiry committee under the chairmanship of the District Collector. However, even after close to a month, the report submitted by the committee is yet to be made public.

As a part of the investigation, 120 employees of the Simhachalam Devasthanam were inquired by Joint Collector KS Viswanathan.

Meanwhile, the endowments department had also announced to inquire into the reported lapses spotted during ‘nija roopa darshan’ with the support of a special officer. But, the investigation is yet to be launched. After the conduct of ‘nija roopa darshan’, the Devasthanam staff mentioned that the VIP, VVIP tickets and ‘antralaya’ darshan were allowed as per the instruction of the District Collector.

The Devasthanam officials, who rendered duty on April 23 marking the festival, mentioned that police asked them to step aside and took complete control over the festival.

On the other hand, the revenue officials reported that the VVIP passes were issued more than the number suggested by the District Collector. The committee has to come out with an investigation on the failures of the festival. Although the committee has submitted a report, the details are yet to be known.

Blaming the endowments department for the failure of the festival, rumours are rife that there is a possibility for taking disciplinary action against a couple of Devasthanam officials.

A majority of people, however, feel that the endowments department alone could not be blamed and that the failure is attributed to the lack of appropriate coordination among the GVMC, revenue, police and other departments.