Stampede in Goa
Panaji: The inquiry committee has submitted its report to the Chief Minister of the state today in the case of a stampede incident at Sri Devi Lirai Devi temple in Goa. The committee constituted for investigation has collectively blamed the behavior of the district administration, police, temple committee and crowd for this tragedy.
Six people died due to stampede
6 people were killed and more than 100 people were injured when a stampede was carried out during an annual festival at the Sri Devi Lairai temple in Shiragao village in northern Goa district. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant constituted an inquiry committee under the leadership of Secretary (Revenue) Sandeep Jacquis to find out the reasons. Sawant made public the report of the committee on Tuesday, saying that the committee found that in addition to the lapse by the district administration, police and temple committee, “the behavior of the crowd” also led to this tragedy. The police have already registered an FIR against unknown persons in this case.
The crowd was increasing during the ritual
Sawant said that a ‘show cause notice’ will be issued to the officers responsible by the inquiry committee. He said that a few hours after the incident, the state government had transferred District Magistrate Sneha Gitte and Superintendent of Police (North) Akshat Kaushal. The Chief Minister said that rituals were going on in the temple and the crowd was increasing, when there was a stampede on the sloping path between the holy pond and ‘Homkund’, where the fire is lit for the ritual.
Temple management committee also did not cooperate with the administration
Sawant said that the authorities did not control the crowd and the plan was also poor. He said that the behavior of some ‘Dhonda’ (devotees) was also not good; The temple management committee also did not cooperate with the administration while arranging the celebration. Sawant said, “The temple committee did not take any initiative to control the crowd.” He said that the district administration failed to take necessary security measures for the celebration of this scale.
Co-ordination among policemen was also not good
The Chief Minister quoted the report as saying that there was no strategic deployment of the police force and co-ordination between the policemen was also not good. He said that the police had not established the necessary monitoring structures for such occasions. Sawant said that in addition, the street shops going towards the temple became narrow and the local panchayat issued no objection certificates (NOCs) for electricity connections to the shops without inspecting the spot. He said that the Factory Committee has made several recommendations including immediate measures like preparing crowd management plans for this scale events. Sawant said, “This incident was an eye opening for us. We will make a list of such festivals and the crowd management plan will already be implemented. ”(Language)
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