STAMPEDE SAGA OF MAHA KUMBH

Prayagraj is supposed to be a confluence of tradition, history and spirituality. Here Kumbh mela is held once in 12 years at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna and mystical Saraswati. People feel happy and blessed in this land soaked in divinity.

Four Key Elements

Four key elements are experienced by a devotee :

Kalpvas (staying and leading a simple life on the banks of Sangam), Snan (holy dip in sacred waters, believed to cleanse sins and purify the soul), Dhyan (self meditation or guided meditation to connect to divine) and Daan (charity being core aspect, offering food, cloth and alms to the needy leads to selflessness & a sense of fulfilment).

Millions of devotees converge at the World’s largest religious conglomeration. Of the four auspicious days on which Shahi Snan (royal bath) is to be taken, the Mauni Amawasya Day on 29th January was most important. But on this day during 2013 Kumbh, 35 persons were killed when a bridge at Allahabad railway station gave way.

Tragedy on 15th Day

As if the tragedy of 2013 was not enough, once again a horrendous stampede happened on this very day at Triveni Sangam on 29th January, 2025 when more than 40 persons died and over 60 were injured when devotees fell over each other as passage was found to be very narrow even between 1 and 2 a.m. as the administration did not give the attention that tired & eager pilgrims deserved. They not only dis allowed pilgrims to use nearby empty roads but they were too busy with VIP’s on first fifteen days.

Auspicious Day of Bath

Bath on Mauni Amavasya Day is supposed to absolve the faithful of sins and provide salvation from life and death cycle.

According to an expert, taking a bath during Kumbh is a lifetime experience. One may embrace chaos, but connecting with people from different parts of the world enables him to take back memories which are supposed to last forever.

Name & Fame

Name and fame of a world class mega event which had got well deserved publicity all over the world much before it began on 13th January, sullied its bloated but fair image in just a matter of half an hour.

Allegedly focus was heavily tilted on looking after the VIPs. Organisers could not ignore eight uncalled for visits of the Chief Minister. Fat was added to the fire when the entire U.P. cabinet had its meeting here and all took holy dip as well.

Devotees in very large numbers on the fateful day were allowed behind barricades very close to ‘Nose’ of Sangam. It could have been staggered. To make matters worse, a person of the level of Divisional Commissioner was seen addressing the devotees at the dead of night to take bath at an unearthly hour. He used a video as also his vocal chords to appeal to the devotees.

Unavoidable Act of Devotees

There were a large number of people already sleeping in the passage, huge dust bins were proving impediments and there was nothing called a separate EXIT. In addition, most of the devotees were carrying a lot many things. Between 1 and 2 a.m., devotees pressed forward and in time began colliding with thousands of others already sitting or sleeping on the ground near the ghats, waiting for the auspicious hour (Braham Muhurt) of 3 a.m. Due to extreme pressure. In the [process, barricades collapsed leading to the death of 30 lives. At the exit point, iron dust bins along the path became obstacles in darkness; this passage was unbelievably jammed. People lost bags, shoes, sweaters, caps etc.

Appeal of Mela Adhikari

The Commissioner, Prayagraj, also the high profile Mela Adhikari, through a video said “Get up, take a bath. As many people were expecting to go for the bath, there was a possibility of a stampede. One wishes that this announcement was swiftly followed up by suitable pre-emptive action.

But crowds continued to swell, inspired by the idea that their turn was coming after 144 years. No one wanted to miss it. By midnight, Sangam was choked with pilgrims with not even an inch of space left for people to turn back after taking a dip. It may be noted that the ‘Nose’ area of Sangam has been sufficiently widened as compared to last Kumbh.

Sudden Stampede

A sudden surge out of nowhere led to an unexpected stampede. People got trampled as crowd pressure escalated after barricades after barricades collapsed. Closure of routes to the river brought the dense crowd to a standstill. People began collapsing due to acute suffocation also. Pushing, pulling and climbing over one another was witnessed. Someone’s old mother collapsed, then another woman became an unfortunate victim. A few more women lost their lives. Scattered shoes, slippers and clothes spoke about the scale of chaos that had happened. Thus on a day when silence was to be observed while taking a dip, noisy developments happened.

Many devotees felt that Policemen caused the tragedy in a 4000 hectare area, having 40 ghats.

Rush of Ambulances

By 2 a.m.,wails of sirens from ambulances and police vehicles pierced through continuous chants of mantras and slokas emanating from loudspeakers. While the injured were being taken on stretchers, belongings of people, blankets, sheets, caps and bags lay strewn around, as if it was a battlefield.

Thirty bridges as opposed to 10 or 12 bridges earlier could have been used for dispersing the crowd.

Next attention focused on the Mela Central hospital located in Sector 2. All felt that had policemen arrived in time, some innocent lives could have been saved. According to some eyewitnesses, police arrived after half an hour to one hour.

A fact needs to be underlined regarding the considerate attitude of Naga Sadhus. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, they did not insist on initiating a royal bath on Mauni Amavasya day. While devotees were permitted to take dip first, Akhara of Nagas began their bath only at 2.30 p.m. in the afternoon which was led by Niranjani Akhara and followed by Anand Akhara, Juna Akhara, Agni Akhara and Panch Dasnam Akhara.

What Caused The Catastrophe ?

By evening of 29th January, reportedly 76 million people had taken a holy dip. Authorities even at this sad juncture were bothered about numbers.What does one gain from figures ? It has become a Pan India phenomenon under the present ruling party.

There appears a truth in saying that mismanagement and loose and callus administration were primarily responsible for the tragedy. Focus should NOT have been on VIP movement. Better crowd control by curbing VIP culture can only ensure effective arrangements for the common man.

Toll, in the meanwhile is expected to exceed 50. To begin with, Mela or State authorities were tight lipped over the death and injury figures. No State wise break up of dead and injured has been disclosed as yet. No helpline number too has been indicated in a set up which claims to be hi tech savvy.

The Chief Minister’s first statement was made only after 12 hours (SAD). It mentioned that “some” were seriously injured, though the messages of the President and Prime Minister CLEARLY SPECIFIED that devotees had died. That means CM was trying to mislead the top two functionaries.

Yogi Adityanath, apart from mentioning the concern of PM and Home Minister, did not forget to mention party president also, which was totally uncalled for. It never happens.

Judicial Inquiry

As it happens on such occasions, CM announced a Judicial Inquiry, to be headed by a retired High Court Judge. One IAS and one IPS officer were going to be members. It was to submit its report within a month (?). However, past experience shows that this way, clever fellows buy time and actual culprits vanish.

For a few days things may look little different but it will be back to square one again in the semi feudal set up of U.P. The present centralised set up is unlikely to be relaxed in a situation when people don’t speak out of fear.

Now all eyes will be on the royal bath on 3rd February, the Basant Panchami day. Announcement of no vehicle zone in Sangam area NOW could have been done much earlier. Vehicle has not only become a status symbol but power is supposed to “flow”through it.

Press Belied Expectations

Why to blame only the administration and unnecessary urge or restlessness on the part of devotees ? Members of the Press, apart from routine reporting, did not look for transparency either. Otherwise, full facts could have been divulged earlier than expected in this age of smart phones held invariably by smart and unsmart individuals. Members of mainstream media had conveniently become part of an official WhatsApp group and they heavily relied on it.

QUESTIONS THAT NEED TO BE ANSWERED

• Why apprehensions expressed by one of the Shankaracharyas regarding such a chaos on 20th January not taken seriously ?

• Why no lessons were drawn from similar unfortunate incidents of 1954 Kumbh ?

• Why no Consultative Committee was formed prior to start of Mela ?

• Why no Mela Register as in the past was maintained ?

• Why were workers and small-time vendors from the vicinity disallowed in the name of community ?

• Why small time shop keepers of the area were discouraged ?

• Why local boatmen were prevented from providing service, thus depriving them of their usual income ?

• What was the need to bring favourite capitalists for making arrangements ?

• Why care is perpetually lacking in respect of drinking water and supply of water to thousands of toilets ?

(The author is former Chief Secretary, Sikkim. Views expressed are strictly personal)