Karnataka: Villagers perform 2-day homa to prevent accidents

BENGALURU: Marathon homas and pujas are usually performed by politicians to ensure victory in their endeavours. But residents of a nondescript village in Tumakuru district, Keregalapalya, did a 48-hour homa for a different reason — to prevent road accidents.
Residents of the village, which is located along the Pavagada-Malavalli road built under the Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project (KSHIP) four years ago, said the rituals were conducted to ward off evil spirits on the road.“The 1-km stretch near Keregalapalya has witnessed 50 accidents in the past one year and the death toll has touched 35. All accidents have taken place between Hunsemarahatti and Hariharappa villages. We sought divine intervention to prevent more deaths,” they said.
The villagers contacted the local temple priest, who suggested a special puja be done to pacify the gods. The residents pooled in money and a special homa was conducted at Keregalapalya bus stand, a spot they claimed had witnessed 11 accidents in a month. Jayachandra, a resident said: “The number of accidents was going up, triggering panic.” Another villager, Siddalingamurthy, said: “We were worried. This is not a difficult stretch to navigate, yet accidents used to happen. With so many people having died, residents stopped travelling at night due to fear.”
Not just Keregalapalya, residents of neighbouring villages also participated in the homa. The villagers took out a procession on the state highway and sprinkled ‘holy’ water in the areas where accidents had occurred.
Speeding, drunk driving to blame: Police
Police attributed the accidents to speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol. Tumakuru superintendent of police Kona Vamsi Krishna said the stretch witnessed 11 accidents, and speed-breakers were installed recently. “Analysis of the accidents showed the rider/driver’s negligence was the prime cause. In many cases, the accidents were caused by speeding, drunk driving and negligent driving. Though highway patrolling has started, we have asked for an interceptor for the highway. We will consider it a black spot,” the SP told TOI. According to police, Tumakuru district had listed 88 black spots (accident-prone zones) last year.