A heart-wrenching tragedy unfolded at the historic Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple in Visakhapatnam, when a wall collapse during Chandanotsavam celebrations claimed seven devotees’ lives, leaving Andhra Pradesh shocked and grieving.
The mishap occurred when hundreds of devotees were waiting in the ₹300 ticket queue for the special darshan of the deity. In a sudden and tragic twist, a wall within the temple complex collapsed, killing seven people on the spot. Four members of a family, including a husband and wife — making the tragedy all the more heart-wrenching.
Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy acted quickly in response to the tragedy. During his journey from Tadepalli to Visakhapatnam, he condoled the bereaved and met the mourning family members of Uma Mahesh and Shailaja at Chandrampalem and assured them of all help in this time of crisis.
Talking to the media, Jagan criticized Andhra Pradesh state government and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, accusing gross negligence and unpreparedness for the fatal crash.
“Was the government not aware that lakhs of devotees flock to festivals such as Chandanotsavam or Vaikunta Ekadashi? How is safety put in place in such a substandard manner?” he asked, citing that crowd management and basic infrastructure could have avoided the disaster.
Jagan also recalled the Tirupati Vaikunta Ekadashi stampede, stating that the administration failed to learn from past mistakes. He accused the government of prioritizing political events, such as Chandrababu’s Kuppam tour, over devotee safety, alleging that security personnel were diverted from temples to political duties.
Jagan raised alarm over the wall’s construction quality and timeline. According to him, the collapsed wall — 20 meters in length and 10 feet high — was built in just four days, using substandard fly ash bricks, without proper structural reinforcement or official tenders.
“How can such a fragile structure be permitted beside a crowded area?” he demanded, slapping the administration for endangering lives. He also condemned the temple administration for not offering simple facilities such as drinking water and temporary toilets, particularly at a huge religious congregation.
Jagan attributed the Simhachalam incident to a larger trend of administrative apathy under the present government, pointing to several recent controversies. They include the killing of turtles at Srikurmam temple, cattle deaths at TTD goshalas, and the destruction of Kadapa’s Kashinayana Ashram.
He characterized the Simhachalam disaster as a straight outcome of corruption and government complacency, calling upon the state to accept sole blame and put into place tough policies to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.
