Andhra: Layoffs of careless officers a serious warning signal
Visakhapatnam: The decision taken by the state government on Simhachalam wall collapse incident indicates a stern warning against negligent officials irrespective of the positions they hold.
A week after the incident that took place at Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple during the ‘Chandanotsavam’ festival on April 30, the state government suspended seven officials following a preliminary investigation report submitted by a three-member committee constituted to find out facts. The committee, led by Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration and Urban Development Suresh Kumar, Elite Anti-Narcotics Group for Law Enforcement (EAGLE) director Ake Ravi Krishna and engineer-in-chief, irrigation department Venkateswara Rao, spoke to the contractors, engineers and officials concerned before submitting the report.
The fatal accident that occurred for the first time at Simhachalam where scores of devotees congregated to witness ‘nijarupa’ darshan of Lord Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy claimed seven lives and injured a few others.
Earlier, when such major incidents took place, the action used to be against either mid-level or low-level cadre. But this time, the NDA government took serious action against the Executive Officer of Simhachalam Devasthanam and other officials from endowments and tourism departments.
Executive Officer of Simhachalam Devasthanam K Subba Rao, temple executive engineer DG Srinivasa Raju, junior engineer K Babji and APTDC executive engineer K Ramana and assistant engineer P Madan Mohan along with temple deputy executive engineers KSN Murthy and ABVLR Swamy were suspended over the incident. Meanwhile, contractor Lakshmana Rao, who executed the wall construction, was blacklisted and criminal proceedings were initiated along with other two officials. When enquired, the contractor told the committee members that he was in a rush to build the wall before the festival.
So far, the three-member committee submitted only a preliminary report to the state government. However, with the committee set to submit a detailed report in a month’s time, there is a scope for axing a few more officials’ posts.
Following the wall collapse mishap, the attention is not just on probing its cause in various angles but also focusing on the works related to endowments plus tourism departments that are in progress at the temple.
In the meantime, Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation corporator Peethala Murthy Yadav forwarded a letter to Central and state Chief Vigilance Commissioners, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and AP Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh stating that there is an apparent misuse of funds related to the project works taken up as part of the PRASAD scheme. He further mentioned in the letter that the quality of works carried out by the engineers call for a detailed scrutiny as well.
In line with the PRASAD scheme, a number of works have been taken up at Simhachalam Devasthanam to the tune of Rs.54 crore. For months, these works are being carried out and are in different stages of completion. As part of it, a queue complex at Utharagoparam, a four-floored commercial-cum-kalyana mandapam complex uphill, among others, were proposed by the Devasthanam officials.
Apparently, after the wall collapse incident, what needs a larger attention is not just accelerating the pending works that are in progress but also the quality of works carried out.
