Stampede at Vaishno Devi, 12 dead

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 1

At least 12 persons were killed and 20 injured in a stampede at Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours during a heavy rush of devotees on New Year.

Officials said the incident took place between 2.30 am and 2.45 am on Saturday near a relatively narrow passage at gate number 3 outside the shrine’s sanctum sanctorum where devotees usually arrive round the clock after trekking from the Katra base camp, a distance of nearly 13 km.

Relief for kin

• Prime Minister Modi announced Rs2 lakh ex gratia each for the kin of the deceased and Rs50,000 each for the injured
• Shrine board will give Rs10 lakh each to victims’ families and Rs2 lakh each to the injured

‘Sheer neglect’

• No Covid norms, numbers were beyond the permitted level, alleged eyewitnesses
• Some accused the J&K admn of mismanagement
• Shrine board denied charges, saying arrangements were made anticipating the rush

Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Manoj Sinha ordered a high-level inquiry which is to be headed by Principal Secretary (Home) Shaleen Kabra with Jammu Divisional Commissioner Rajiv Langar and ADGP Mukesh Singh as its members.

Condolences poured in from all quarters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Sinha and asked Union Minister Jitendra Singh to rush to the shrine and take stock of the situation.

According to eyewitnesses, Covid norms were blatantly violated and the number of devotees was beyond the

permitted limit. Some of the survivors reportedly accused the J&K administration of “mismanagement”.

The Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board denied the charges, saying all necessary arrangements had been made in view of the expected New Year rush. The J&K Police claimed most of the deaths had occurred due to suffocation. They said among the deceased were seven were from Uttar Pradesh, three from Delhi and one each from Haryana and J&K. Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said the incident took place due to confusion or “probably somebody at the site acted funny leading to some altercation”. He said preliminary information suggested there was a minor altercation among some boys and within seconds there was a stampede.

“All these things are being looked into. That area is a little narrow and people ran helter-skelter without knowing the reason,” he said.

The deceased were identified as Arun Pratab Singh (30), Dharam Veer Singh (35), Vineet Kumar (38), Shewata Singh (35), Mohinder Gour (26), Narinder Kashap (40) and Monu Sharma (32) of Uttar Pradesh; Vinay Kumar (24), Sonu Panday (24) and Akash Kumar (29) of Delhi; Mamta (38) of Haryana; and Desraj Kumar (26) of Rajouri district of J&K, the officials said. The condition of two of the injured was stated to be critical.

PM Modi announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh each from the PM National Relief Fund for the next of kin of those who lost their lives. The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each, he added.

The J&K administration announced a relief of Rs 10 lakh each to the victims’ families and Rs 2 lakh each to the injured which will be paid by the shrine board.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah tweeted, “I have spoken to the Lieutenant Governor. The administration is working continuously to provide treatment to the injured.”

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “The stampede is tragic. I extend my condolences to the families of the deceased.” Political parties in Kashmir, including the National Conference, PDP and the People’s Conference, also expressed grief over the incident.

Tragedies after 2000

Aug 27, 2003: 39 killed and 140 injured in a stampede during Kumbh Mela in Maha’s Nashik

Jan 25, 2005: More than 340 devotees trampled to death at Mandhardevi temple in Satara

Aug 3, 2008: 162 dead in stampede at Naina Devi temple in Bilaspur district of Himachal

Sept 30, 2008: 250 devotees killed in stampede at Chamunda Devi temple in Rajasthan’s Jodhpur

March 4, 2010: 63 killed in a stampede at Ram Janki Temple of Kripalu Maharaj in UP’s Pratapgarh

Nov 8, 2011: 20 people dead in stampede at Har-ki-Pauri ghat, Haridwar, on the banks of the Ganga

Nov 9, 2012: 20 killed in Patna as makeshift bridge caves in, triggering stampede during Chhath Puja

Oct 13, 2013: 115 killed, over 100 hurt in stampede during Navratri festivities at a temple in MP’s Datia

October 3, 2014: 32 killed in a stampede at Gandhi Maidan in Patna post Dasehra celebrations

July 14, 2015: 27 dead in a stampede on the banks of Godavari on ‘Pushkaram’ festival in AP