SDM removed over public dissatisfaction on poor arrangements
Shams Tabrez Khan is replaced by Rajesh Vishwakarma as the new SDM
During a joint inspection, the temple officials and the new SDM reviewed all arrangements
In the first major administrative action following the recent stampede at the Avsaneshwar Temple in Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, that claimed two lives, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Haidergarh Shams Tabrez Khan has been removed from his post, as per an official order. Rajesh Vishwakarma has been appointed as the new Sub-Divisional Magistrate of Haidergarh and took charge at the temple on Thursday.
District Magistrate Shashank Tripathi ordered the transfer of Tabrez following public dissatisfaction over poor arrangements during the first two mondays of Sawan at the popular Shiva temple. He has now been posted as the special land acquisition officer at the collectorate.
Although local volunteers and temple committee members did not raise complaints publicly, murmurs persisted that Tabrez had not been present on either of the critical Mondays. Other key administrative officials, including the tehsildar and naib tehsildar, were also allegedly absent, PTI reported
On Thursday evening, Vishwakarma visited the Avsaneshwar Temple, offered prayers, and inspected the temple premises and the adjoining fairground. He issued strict instructions ensuring no lapses in devotees' safety. At the Gomti River ghat, where pilgrims bathe before offering holy water (jalabhishek) to the deity, Vishwakarma found the water level had risen, however, there were no safety arrangements in place. He immediately ordered the barricading of the ghat and issued stern directions to the revenue and police teams on site, reported PTI.
During a joint inspection with temple committee chairman Sanjay Giri, manager Vinod Giri, and priest Atul Goswami, Vishwakarma reviewed all arrangements and instructed corrective action wherever shortcomings were observed. He also directed adequate police force be deployed across all critical points in and around the temple premises for the upcoming Monday. Additionally, the presence of two ambulances has been made mandatory.
Two people were killed and 32 injured in a stampede at the temple after a live electric wire, broken by monkeys, fell onto a tin shed early on monday, officials said. The electric current spread through the tin shed as the wire fell, triggering panic and a stampede in the temple premises. Earlier, DGP Uttar Pradesh Rajeev Krishna, at a program in Lucknow, maintained that the deaths were caused by electrocution and not because of the stampede.
