The Andhra Pradesh government has acted firmly after the wall collapse at Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple, killing seven devotees. According to the report of a three-member panel of inquiry, seven officials have been suspended by the state on charges of negligence and the contractor who was carrying out the construction work has been blacklisted.
The ghastly accident, which was a shock to the entire state, led to the government ordering an urgent investigation into why the collapse had occurred. The inquiry by the committee showed serious negligence on the part of temple and tourism department officials and the contractor.
Acting quickly, the government suspended main players such as Temple Executive Officer K. Subbarao, Executive Engineer Srinivasa Rao, APTDC Executive Engineer Ramana, Deputy Engineers K.S.N. Murthy and Swami, APTDC Assistant Engineer P. Madan, and Temple Junior Engineer K. Babji.
Besides the suspensions, the contractor is also blacklisted, thus prohibited from attending any government contracts in the future. Officials were further ordered to sue the contractor, along with two other officials charged with responsibility for the negligence.