In the first high-profile administrative action against the stampede tragedy at Avsaneshwar Temple in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, which took away two people and injured another 32, Uttar Pradesh-based Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Haidergarh, Shams Tabrez Khan, has been relieved of his duties. As per an official order, Rajesh Vishwakarma has been appointed to the post of new SDM of Haidergarh and took charge of the office on Thursday.
The move was taken against the backdrop of dissatisfaction voiced by people who complained of bad management in handling crowds on the first two Mondays of the Sawan month at the famous Shiva temple. An order of transfer of Tabrez to the Special Land Acquisition Officer in the collectorate has been issued by District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi. Locals complained that temple volunteers and committee members did not make official complaints even though Tabrez was not present on some of the most critical days when people had thronged. The other officials, such as the tehsildar and naib tehsildar, were reported missing at the same time.
Vishwakarma came on the scene, and after having visited the temple and gone through a thorough inspection of the temple and the fairground, he offered prayers. At the Gomti River, where people take holy baths and give the holy water, he found that the water level had increased and declared that the ghat needed to be barricaded immediately to kill any chances of mishaps. He further advised revenue and police work groups to be extra cautious and make sure that all safety precautions are followed.
Also in a combined inspection exercise with committee members of the temple and priests, Vishwakarma oversaw preparations and gave instructions to address shortfalls where they existed. He scheduled the deployment of more police officers and made it mandatory that there had to be two ambulances on stand-by for the next Monday observances.
The Barabanki stampede was witnessed on a live electric that dropped on a tin shed after being broken by monkeys, leading to panic among the devotees.
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