Heavy devotee turnout leads to temporary medicine shortage at Durga temple camps

A greater number of devotees than anticipated attended the Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada during the initial days of Dasara festivities on Sunday, October 11. This influx of worshippers resulted in a temporary shortage of medical supplies at several camps established to provide urgent care.

Twenty-five medical camps were set up both around the temple and within its compound, equipped with a variety of medicines such as antibiotics, paracetamol, drugs for hypertension and diabetes, and treatments for gastrointestinal issues, coughs, colds, and nausea. However, some camps reportedly ran low on paracetamol by the afternoon.

At a camp situated near the temple, more than 20 patients, primarily women, required painkillers within a half-hour window, citing leg and knee discomfort. The majority reported waiting over four hours for a chance to see the goddess. At this particular camp, two boxes containing approximately 200 painkiller tablets were depleted between 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m.

According to Sravan Babu, the NTR District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO), the shortages were caused by the unexpectedly large turnout on the first day, which fell on a weekend. He noted that each camp was initially supplied with 400 paracetamol tablets, but several camps began experiencing shortages by the afternoon. Although stocks were replenished promptly after the shortages were reported, the camp closest to the temple had to wait more than two hours for new supplies.

Temple officials reported that around 90,000 devotees had entered the temple by 6 p.m. on Sunday, compared to approximately 47,000 on the same day last year. Sravan Babu stated that larger quantities of medicines would be provided to the camps in the days to come to address the increased demand.