Endowments Minister Orders Safety Overhaul For All Temples

The minister visited the Kasibugga Venkateswara Swamy Temple on Sunday, where an accident killed nine people. He, along with MLA Sirisha and the endowments Commissioner, met the injured people in the hospital.

Talking to the media, the minister noted that the temple opened only four months ago with its construction money donated by the devotees. It was designed to look like the famous Tirumala temple. “A tragedy could have been prevented if experts had been consulted earlier,” he said.

The minister said, “This is a private temple and it is not directly controlled by the government. Yet, the government acted quickly after the incident following instruction from the chief minister.

He also noted that Union minister Rammohan Naidu and IT minister Nara Lokesh announced ex-gratia to the victims’ families. The state government has set up a special committee to investigate what went wrong.

The endowments minister announced changes to prevent such accidents in future. A safety checklist will be created for all temples, whether run by the government or private. District collectors have been ordered to send detailed safety reports. A special advisory committee would be formed to oversee construction of private temples in future.”

"The safety of devotees remains our highest priority. A mandatory security review would be conducted before every festival, with strict standards for major events,” the minister said.

Ramanarayana Reddy said the Kasibugga temple would stay closed until Agama scholars (religious experts) say it is safe to reopen. Any construction work at the temple will begin only after the collector submits a full report.

He said a department review meeting for Srikakulam district, which was planned before this accident, would now also focus on safety rules for temples that are not under direct government control.