Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appeared emotional when he spoke about the stampede at the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj on Wednesday. The chief minister has formed a three-member commission to probe the accident.
Adityanath termed the incident as ‘sad’. His voice broke as he said that the government’s sympathies were with all those families who had lost their loved ones. He also did not dismiss the questions being raised, saying that these were only “natural".
The kin of each deceased will receive a compensation of Rs 25 lakh.
The three-member inquiry commission will be headed by former Justice of the Allahabad High Court, Harsh Kumar. Retired IPS officers V.K. Gupta and D.K. Singh are the other two members.
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The commission will look into the reasons and circumstances that led to the accident and give suggestions to avert such disasters in the future.
Meanwhile, Mela Adhikari Vijay Kiran Anand and DIG Vaibhav Krishna gave detailed information about how the events had unfolded.
Before the Brahma Muhurta, between 1 am and 2 am on Wednesday, there was a huge crowd on the Akhara road in the fair area. Due to the crowd pressure, the barricades on one side broke and people crossed over. This led to people falling on those who were waiting for the snan. Those who were sleeping on the banks of the river were also trampled upon.
The government started relief and rescue operations immediately, creating a green corridor to ferry the injured to the hospitals.
Over 90 injured pilgrims were rushed to the hospital, out of whom 30 died. The bodies of five people are yet to be identified.
Among the deceased, four are from Karnataka, one from Assam and one from Gujarat. Some of the injured have been taken away by their families while 36 injured are being treated at the local medical college. For the convenience of the devotees, the fair administration has issued a helpline number 1920.
The Mela administrators dismissed allegations of VIP movement and reiterated that there was no such protocol in place. No VIP protocol will also be applicable on any of the forthcoming significant bathing dates, they said.
Meanwhile, saints have come out in support of the government saying that quick action had averted what could have been a much bigger tragedy.
