Seven Officials Suspended Over Simhachalam Temple Wall Collapse
Seven officials from the Devasthanam (temple administration) and tourism departments have been suspended with immediate effect.
Visakhapatnam:The state government has suspended seven officials and ordered criminal proceedings against two individuals based on the findings of a high-level committee on the wall collapse at the Simhachalam temple on April 30.
The committee, comprising municipal administration principal Secretary Suresh Kumar, EAGLE chief AK Ravikrishna, and chief engineer to the Irrigation department Venkateshwar Rao, determined that the accident occurred due to "gross negligence" by contractors and officials.
"This wall was built without any permission. Everything was done in a hurry based on word of mouth," said Suresh Kumar, who headed the inquiry committee.
Seven officials from the Devasthanam (temple administration) and tourism departments have been suspended with immediate effect. They were Simhachalam temple Executive Officer K Subbarao, executive engineer Srinivasaraju, APTDC executive engineer Ramana, deputy executive engineer KSN Murthy, deputy executive engineer Swamy, assistant engineer P Madan, and temple junior engineer K Babji.
The government has ordered criminal action against contractor K Lakshminarayana and APTDC executive engineer K Ramana. The contractor has also been blacklisted from future government projects.
Contractor Lakshminarayana testified that he had initially refused to undertake the construction due to the tight timeline of six days. Officials from the Devasthanam and tourism department pressured him to proceed.
The investigation revealed troubling issues beyond the immediate tragedy. Under the Prasad scheme, both APTDC and Devasthanam are jointly involved in the execution of works, creating overlapping responsibilities that contributed to the safety lapses.
Additionally, Ramana is accused of financial irregularities unrelated to the temple incident, allegedly enhancing the renovation work's value of Yatri Nivas in MVP Colony by approximately `5 crore above general estimates.
The committee also uncovered a concerning lack of coordination between the endowments and tourism departments and found that the wall was constructed without consulting traditional agama shastra practitioners, a serious violation of temple construction protocols.
The committee submitted its findings to the Chief Minister at the Secretariat on Sunday evening. A more comprehensive report, expected within a month, will provide recommendations on precautionary measures to prevent similar incidents at public religious sites in the future.
The committee has also called for additional investigation to identify all those responsible for authorizing structural modifications without ensuring compliance with safety regulations.