The Justice Somayajulu Commission, constituted to inquire into the stampede during the Godavari Pushkarams that claimed 29 lives last year, has asked the government’s counsel to submit relevant documents and records without the need for summoning any VIP, and postponed the hearing to Thursday. The single-man commission sat here for the whole day on Tuesday to conduct the inquiry.
Two out of three complainants submitted video clippings and photographs as sought during the last hearing.
A.P. Bar Council member Muppalla Subba Rao and former MP Vundavalli Arun Kumar, in their affidavits-cum-clippings, showed how the government machinery was “negligent, unconcerned, and unplanned” for the mega event. Mr. Subba Rao gathered clippings from various news channels and tried to convey that the incident had taken place only because Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his family members spent more than 40 minutes at the Pushkara Ghat even as many devotees had been detained in long queues outside the ghats.
He attributed the incident to the failure of the police and revenue officials, as also the Ministers and the Chief Minister, in crowd management. Mr. Arun Kumar, in his deposition, showed the clippings of a few English news channels and pointed out that the stampede was due to the government’s tie-up with National Geographic Channel to document the event. The clippings show the channel’s reporters and cameramen shooting the incident from the Godavari old bridge.
He appealed to the commission that the Chief Minister, the Ministers concerned, and the District Collector be also examined. Also, the “nexus” between the NGC and the Tourism Department, which had been given the contract, should be exposed, he added.
