Gyan Prakash Sharma, a Prayagraj resident and a witness to the stampede at Maha Kumbh, says crowd mismanagement and lack of coordination claimed precious lives. His account:
I was resting in my tent, about 200 meters from the spot where the tragedy occurred, when I heard a commotion during the early hours of Amrit Snan day (January 29). I rushed out only to witness a flood of pilgrims rushing in all directions causing an uncontrollable stampede. The crowd was in such frenzy that it was literally impossible for the police and other security personnel to control them.
My question at that hour was how the Mela administration not foresee such a situation ahead of an auspicious day. Clearly, the poor crowd management was the reason behind this unfortunate incident that resulted in the loss of dozens of lives and many injured.
Though the administration has now woken up late and cancelled the VIP passes, my assumption is that the VIP culture was one of the main reasons behind the deaths of the pilgrims. Most of the routes heading towards the Sangam Nose had been restricted for the general public to ensure a smooth Snan for the Akharas and VIPs, on the auspicious day of Mauni Amawasya. Many pilgrims who reached the Nose well in advance to take bath on the Muhurat (2 am onwards) were sleeping under the skies and were among the first victims.
The Pontoon Bridge leading to the nose was also closed well in advance and the increasing pressure from behind forced the pilgrims to jump off and break the barricading. This caused a rush towards the Nose, and in the melee that ensued, many people sleeping there were crushed. As the handful of cops present there literally became helpless, the crowd was at its own mercy for the next couple of hours running in all possible directions for help and safety.
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Although, cops and other enforcement teams were rushed from the entire Mela City to the spot, it took them another two-three hours to finally control the stampede. But by then the damage was done, leaving an ugly scar of the much hyped historic Hindu congregation.
I also came to know through some of my friends in the district administration that there was little or no communication between the Mela and the district administration officials. Seeing the inflow of countless numbers of pilgrims from all directions of the Mela city, it was clear that no effort was made by the district administration to stop people outside the Mela. It also appears that the city borders had also been left unchecked and vehicles kept pouring in until each and every possible road leading to the Mela city was choked to the brim.
Such was the rush in Prayagraj ahead of Mauni Amawasya that not just the city roads, but even by-lanes and every corner of the town were chock-a-block with no walking or breathing space. The district witnessed traffic jam for as long as over 50 km from the Sangam. But the administration was probably waiting for a tragedy to take place before waking up.
Now that the religious event is defaced, all your efforts – cancelling VIP passes, enhanced traffic & border management, increased forces, replacing officials, forming a judicial probe team, etc. – are merely face-saving tactics. And now when things are smoothly moving in and around the Mela city, I wonder why the same administration could not place such efforts before the tragedy. If therse measures had been put in place from day one, we could have saved precious lives and Mela reputation.
As told to Rajat Rajat
