JOIN USAndhra Pradesh: Landslide at Vijayawada Kanaka Durga temple, no loss of life reported
Scores of devotees at the Vijayawada Kanaka Durga temple had a narrow escape on Wednesday afternoon after large boulders rolled onto the premises causing heavy damage to the steel-framed sheds and other pilgrim amenities near the sanctorum.
While a few people, including some of the temple staff, are reportedly injured and rushed to the hospitals, there is no confirmation of any loss of life yet. Fire, police and disaster relief personnel are clearing the debris in search of anyone trapped under the mounds of mud and rocks.
The continuous rains of the past one week have soaked the Indrakiladri hill on which the famous temple is located.
The incident happened a short while before Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy's visit to the popular hill shrine on the Navaratri occasion.
There was a rush of pilgrims since morning because of the auspicious Moola nakshatra day. However, temple and police authorities pausing the queues to facilitate the chief minister's movement are said to have averted a major casualty.
The Navaratri celebrations at the temple were subdued this year because of the pandemic and restrictions. Only around 13,000 devotees are being allowed according to time slot tokens.
Reddy presented silk robes to goddess Kanaka Durga on behalf of the state government.
Though rains have largely subsided in Vijayawada, the flow of the Krishna River at the Prakasam Barrage is at about four lakh cusecs because of the inflows from Karnataka and Telangana.