It was gory morning….. The cruel dance of death alongside Mother Godavari…. While the bureaucracy was busy pandering to Babus in power at the bathing ghats, the commoners were at the receiving end.

The light of their life got extinguished as the VVIPs bathed in luxury.

Kids orphaned, wife bereaved and husband left alone or a senior citizen, who came to seek benign Godavari’s blessings, lying lifeless on the road unattended for hours. This Pushkaram which comes but once in 144 years, has turned many a life upside down forever.

For the past one year, there have been pronouncements and publicity galore on Pushkarams. There were committees after committees and tours after tours. There were more bosses than there were implementers when it came to pushkarams. Chandrababu himself reprimanded the officials several times saying he would not tolerate laxity and laziness. There were warnings galore that all was not well with Pushkaram works. But, Chandrababu was at his bragging best and would have none of it. Then there was back-patting after Monday’s laser shows and pyrotechnics. They said everything was hunky dory and wanted everyone to visit Rajahmundry to have a holy dip. There were special buses and serpentine railway trains to ferry across eager pilgrims to the river ghats. Bragging in their voice when they said there would be an influx 20 lakh pilgrims everyday was difficult to miss.

But, now, moments after the Pushkarams formally opened, there was tragedy. The hollowness of the so-called fool-proof arrangements stood exposed. The number of dead is not the issue here. What is important is why were the commoners made to wait till the VIPs enjoyed their stay at the Ghat? Would the Water become impure if commoners bathe alongside the VIPs? The stampede occurred as all the gates were thrown open moments after the VIPs left causing a deluge of pilgrims.

What were the arrangements at the ghats? Were there any measures to divert the pilgrims to other ghats, which had no VIPs? Why was every policeman on duty deployed to take care of the VIPs leaving the commoners to their fate. Were the officials trained in dealing with the crises such as these? There are no answers for all these questions. The only thing that we can expect is an inquiry and a clutch of suspension orders.

The government has clearly abdicated its responsibility and washed its hands off by announcing the customary ex-gratia. For the rulers, the deaths are a mere statistic.

Government had a responsibility which it did not fulfil. The government, which shifted a senior police officer with alacrity when she failed to anticipate the ACB trap, has resorted to the usual committee-report-suspension-ATR game. It is too foolish to expect that Chandrababu will own up responsibility and resign his post. All we can say is – Mother Godavari … pardon us!

S Gopinath Reddy, Sakshi Online