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VIJAYAWADA, INDIA, August 28, 2004: Four people were killed and 11 injured in a stampede on the first day of the Krishna Pushkar mela at Vijaywada. Thousands of pilgrims had come to take the holy dip today at the beginning of 12-day mela. According to reports, an iron railing along the footbridge leading to the bathing area collapsed and this led to a stampede. The government has ordered an enquiry into the incident and the district collector and the police commissioner have been transferred. “There were very few policemen. And the ones who were present were giving very confusing instructions, asking us to go here and there,” said a pilgrim. Today was the first day of the 12-day festival during which over twenty million people were expected to come to Vijaywada. “We will now deploy more security personnel and tighten the barricades. If we had deployed people earlier, we could have controlled the crowds,” said Prabhakar Reddy, former Collector of Krishna district. The mishap took on a political color with comparisons being drawn with the Godavari Pushkar that took place in July-August last year when the Telugu Desam was in power. “There were no proper steps. Just sand bags were kept. The old people are falling down. There is no water in the taps. The arrangements are bad. The Godavari Pushkar was organized much better,” said a pigrim. The Congress government reacted by ordering a probe and transferring the district collector and city police commissioner. With 11 more days to go, a presumably more vigilant district administration will be praying the rest of the Krishna Pushkar passes off incident-free.

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