‘Inept’ crowd control led to Andhra stampede

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, July 15

Lack of coordination among government agencies, inept crowd management and failure to follow the guidelines of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had led to the tragic stampede on the opening day of the river festival “Godavari Pushkaram” at Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh yesterday claiming 35 lives.

Though the state government had spent Rs1,200 crore on improving infrastructure and other arrangements for the 12-day long festival, confusion reigned supreme at the narrow bathing ghat in the coastal city where lakhs of devotees thronged to have a holy dip in the Godavari.

The opposition parties—Congress and YSR Congress—lost no time in attacking the ruling Telugu Desam Party and demanding the resignation of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu owning moral responsibility for the tragedy. The experts, however, pointed out that the crowd regulation was very poor and what compounded the matters was the undue focus on VIP security, leaving pilgrims in the lurch.

Instead of taking the dip at a separate bathing ghat arranged for VIP guests, the Chief Minister, his family members and cabinet colleagues went to the main ghat meant for general public, thereby blocking the area for over two hours.

There was a sudden surge of restless pilgrims after Naidu’s entourage left the place and the constant pushing and jostling that followed led to the tragedy.

Some experts pointed out that the government had ignored the crowd management guidelines issued by the NDMA for such huge religious congregations.

There was no provision made for free passage of ambulances and quick availability of medical facilities. Allotting disproportionate time for VIPs at the bathing ghats goes against the NMDA norms. While the main Pushkar Ghat at Rajahmundry could hold about 40,000 people at any given point of time, there were nearly two lakh people at the place when the tragedy struck.

“The Chief Minister should take full responsibility for the stampede deaths since he was responsible for blocking the area for general public,” YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said.

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