Unfortunate Incidents: Administrative Response; and the Response of the Doomsayers
The Mauni Amavasya morning (January 29) brought sad news. At least 30 people were killed in a stampede, when a barricade near the Sangam Ghat gave way, as some people reportedly began jumping over the fence. The Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a judicial inquiry and a separate police probe into how and why the incident occurred. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that there were lessons to be learnt.
The level of preparation and the scale of Mahakumbh-2025 has been unprecedented. There is little doubt that the administration has done everything possible on the ground to ensure smooth flow of devotees. While there is always room for improvement, an avoidable lapse on the part of some officials or personnel must be looked into; and, if found true, action must be taken against them.
However, to give an idea of the magnitude, a small point of comparison: In Kumbh-2013, around three crore people had taken a dip. In Mahakumbh-2025, around 7.6 crore people took the dip. This, when the administration had held up a large number of people in neighbouring districts.
Sadly, it reminds me of the stampede that occurred on the night of Mauni Amavasya on February 10 in 2013. The incident had occurred on Prayagraj (then called Allahabad) railway station. One of the basic reasons was that the pre-decided arrangement—one side of the station being used only exit, and the other side for entry—was not followed. It led to a huge build-up of people. The incident occurred between platform No. 5 and 6. So heavy was the crowd pressure that the medical relief teams had to reach via the railway track, and that too after quite a delay, as there was no way they could have made their way to the spot from the main platform. An inquiry was held, but nothing much came out of it.
The railway station was close to my house and I wanted to go to the spot. However, my journalist friends told me that there was little point. Even the TV camera crews were not able to reach the spot, because of the huge crowd. The question then turned to the number of deaths. The information was difficult to come by, as officials got busy trying to assess the situation and provide relief to the injured, as far as possible.
Finally, I asked my boss in Lucknow as to what I should about the number of casualties. His brief was clear—don’t quote any number, unless confirmed by an official. I could get the confirmation from the Chief Medical Officer a bit late in the night, but just in time for the report to be sent for publishing.
Earlier in the day, my journalist friends and I had gone to the Mela area. And, it was for the first time, I realised what ‘crowded’ meant. The roads, as wide as 30-40 feet, were packed with people moving like current of a river. If you tried to cross the road from point A, you would be able to reach the other side only at point B, which would be at an acute angle of 30-40 degree.
Even a slight movement would cause a ripple, as throwing a stone causes in the stationary water in a pond. A minor stampede-like situation had developed on the one of the sloping roads, as somebody had fallen. However, the situation normalised very soon. After even about a couple of hours, I could not reach the main Sangam ghat, which we could otherwise access on even the shahi snana (now called ‘amrit snana’) days. But I hovered around the area for a few hours talking to people, saints and chatting up with officials. When I left the mela area in the evening, I could not help thinking about the crowds that seemed to be swelling up by the passing minute. And then, the tragedy struck in the evening.
From available accounts of 2013, as I have mentioned, the administration just could not get going in the first couple of hours of the tragedy. It would be safe to say that the administration seemed to have got paralysed. With the tragedy occurring, the arrival and departure schedules went haywire. On the face of it, it appeared that there was lack of coordination between the railways and city administration, as the sea of devotees was not guided properly.
In Mahakumbh-2025, the victims were rushed to hospitals by having a green corridor prepared for them in quick time. Those lightly injured were discharged by the evening and arrangements were made for their families to take them home. The kith and kin of those who lost their lives were taken care of and extended all possible help.
Further, right since the Prime Minister, the Chief Minister, and other officials, to the highly-placed seers of the Akharas worked in coordination, amid a spirit of cooperation. The bathing processions were scaled down; the seers voluntarily decided to delay the bathing procession. It must have been a huge psychological relief for not only the officials and personnel, but also the people—because the focal point on amrit snana days are the bathing processions of the akharas. On the other hand, a huge posse of vehicles and special trains had been deployed to move people out of Prayagraj, which was under huge pressure with over 8 crores people having reached for the Mauni Amavasya.
However, feeling the pain, shock and frustration of an event that had gone smoothly, many people on the social media started blaming the administration, and even the Chief Minister, for failing to stop the tragedy.
There is evidence to suggest that the administration was aware of people waiting for the ‘brahma muhoorta’ to take the snana. A top official of the Mela administration himself went around announcing on microphone that people should not wait, as the Mauni Amavasya had already begun. There was another report that people, even after taking bath, waited to take a second bath during the auspicious muhoorta, which created undue pressure. One witness was even heard saying that some youngsters created a sense of panic unnecessarily, and they then stood by the side, while people got sucked into the pandemic. The facts are still sketchy. Only a detailed investigation will lead to the truth.
And then there were those, who could not hide their ‘glee.’ They took to social media, print publications and other means to sarcastically castigate everything Hindu: The fact of so many people following their aastha, the fact that the state government had made mega-preparations for an event at a humongous scale, the fact that the Hindus have shown the world their capability to handle such huge events. Masquerading as a Hinduism expert, Devdutt Patnaik, for instance, began his article in The Times of India, thus: “So, the stampede happened.”[1] He seemed to have stopped short of saying ‘See, I had told you.’
The families of those who have lost near and dear ones will feel the pain for a long time. Yet, observing our traditional festivities is not something that should, or could, be held hostage to a small section (though loud) of doomsayers.
[1] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/toi-plus/society-culture/all-shades-of-kumbh/articleshow/117695119.cms
