n STAMPEDE AT GAYATRI PARIVAR FUNCTION n Thousands had gathered for Shanti Kunj centenary celebrationsn Second incident in 19 monthsn PM, state announce compensation
Haridwar, November 8
Sixteen persons —14 women and two men — were killed in a stampede today during a religious ceremony attended by tens of thousands of devotees near the famous Har-Ki-Pauri on the banks of the Ganga here. Police sources said nearly 2 lakh people from home and abroad had gathered for the ceremony, considered to be the biggest after the Kumbh Mela.
At least 50 persons were also injured in the stampede that broke out when people tried to enter the 'yajnashala' (place of sacred fire ceremony) at Chandidweep Ghat for the birth centenary celebrations of Shri Ram Sharma, the founder of Shanti Kunj Ashram. The saint-scholar-philosopher was also the founding father of 'Akhil Vishwa Gayatri Pariwar', which has a huge following.
Eyewitnesses said the stampede occurred around 11 am in the Laljiwala area adjacent to Neeldhara, just 500 m from Har-Ki-Pauri after completion of a yajna ritual. Devotees were climbing stairs to cross a mini bridge ahead of the venue for the religious ceremony 'Gayatri Mahayagya', a survivor said.
While tens of thousands of devotees were jostling with each other to proceed to the 'yajnashala' at the ashram to make offerings, some people tripped while those behind continued to push forward. The situation soon went out of control and people ran helter-skelter, many women, children and the elderly falling to the ground.
Some of the injured men and women limped as they tried to walk while others were taken away on stretchers. Ambulances, with sirens screaming, reached the scene and rushed the injured to a makeshift 10-bed hospital that the organisers had set up to deal with emergency situations. The condition of at least 10 persons was stated to be critical.
Chaos reigned supreme in the area in the absence of police force as Shanti Kunj volunteers were managing the function and services of the police were not utilised. Consequently, no immediate help was available from the district administration. Haridwar District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan and SSP Pushkar Seylal reached the site an hour after the incident.
Police officials blamed the ashram authorities for not involving the police and district administration in the management of the ceremony where lakhs of people had gathered during the past few days.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was also holding 'yajna' at the ashram when the stampede broke out.
Today's stampede is the second within 19 months at Haridwar. In the last stampede on April 14 last year, seven people were killed during the Mahakumbh Mela.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, who had himself performed rituals at the 'yajnashala' a day ago, visited the stampede site and ordered a judicial magisterial probe into the incident. He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the victims and free treatment for the injured, who are being treated at the district hospital and at makeshift medical centres of Shanti Kunj. Shanti Kunj Ashram also announced a compensation of an identical amount.
District authorities ordered the organisers to call off the four-day event that was due to end on Thursday when a large number of people are expected to take a dip in the Ganga to mark ‘Kartik Poornima’. The organisers agreed to end the celebrations tomorrow after a prayer meeting but the yajna -- the main function of the ongoing centenary festival - was cancelled today itself.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed grief over the stampede tragedy and sanctioned financial assistance to the families of those killed and injured. Families of those killed will get Rs 1 lakh each and those seriously injured will get Rs 50,000 each, a release from the PMO said.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari also visited the stampede site and met some of the injured. Governor Margaret Alva also expressed grief over the incident. Meanwhile, the Shanti Kunj ashram has accepted moral responsibility for the tragic incident.
“We sypmathise with the deceased families and are shocked as we didn’t envisage such a tragedy could occur,” said head Pranav Pandya.
Unexpected rush of devotees proved fatal: Pandya
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri has expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death caused due to stampede and suffocation in Haridwar today. He expressed profound regret that such an incident occurred in the holy land of Haridwar in Uttarakhand. He announced the grant of financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. He also said the state government would bear the cost of treatment of all those who had been injured in the mishap.
Earlier in the morning, Khanduri set aside his scheduled programme to Srinagar Garhwal and immediately rushed to Haridwar upon learning of the incident. Upon arrival at Haridwar, he obtained full details of the incident from the officials. He also went to the mishap site and met the injured persons in local hospitals and enquired about the treatment being given to them.
The Chief Minister said in their hour of distress, all residents of the state had sympathy for the deceased. This was indeed the saddest moment that such an incident had happened in Uttarakhand. He said the congregation of devotees was an event organised by the Gayatri Parivar. The administration would take all precautionary measures in all such programmes to be organised in the future to avert any recurrence of such incidents, he said.
Functions cancelled
Unruffled BJP chief attends cultural festival near accident site
Haridwar, November 8
Sixteen persons —14 women and two men — were killed in a stampede today during a religious ceremony attended by tens of thousands of devotees near the famous Har-Ki-Pauri on the banks of the Ganga here. Police sources said nearly 2 lakh people from home and abroad had gathered for the ceremony, considered to be the biggest after the Kumbh Mela.
At least 50 persons were also injured in the stampede that broke out when people tried to enter the 'yajnashala' (place of sacred fire ceremony) at Chandidweep Ghat for the birth centenary celebrations of Shri Ram Sharma, the founder of Shanti Kunj Ashram. The saint-scholar-philosopher was also the founding father of 'Akhil Vishwa Gayatri Pariwar', which has a huge following.
Eyewitnesses said the stampede occurred around 11 am in the Laljiwala area adjacent to Neeldhara, just 500 m from Har-Ki-Pauri after completion of a yajna ritual. Devotees were climbing stairs to cross a mini bridge ahead of the venue for the religious ceremony 'Gayatri Mahayagya', a survivor said.
While tens of thousands of devotees were jostling with each other to proceed to the 'yajnashala' at the ashram to make offerings, some people tripped while those behind continued to push forward. The situation soon went out of control and people ran helter-skelter, many women, children and the elderly falling to the ground.
Some of the injured men and women limped as they tried to walk while others were taken away on stretchers. Ambulances, with sirens screaming, reached the scene and rushed the injured to a makeshift 10-bed hospital that the organisers had set up to deal with emergency situations. The condition of at least 10 persons was stated to be critical.
Chaos reigned supreme in the area in the absence of police force as Shanti Kunj volunteers were managing the function and services of the police were not utilised. Consequently, no immediate help was available from the district administration. Haridwar District Magistrate D Senthyl Pendiyan and SSP Pushkar Seylal reached the site an hour after the incident.
Police officials blamed the ashram authorities for not involving the police and district administration in the management of the ceremony where lakhs of people had gathered during the past few days.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal was also holding 'yajna' at the ashram when the stampede broke out.
Today's stampede is the second within 19 months at Haridwar. In the last stampede on April 14 last year, seven people were killed during the Mahakumbh Mela.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, who had himself performed rituals at the 'yajnashala' a day ago, visited the stampede site and ordered a judicial magisterial probe into the incident. He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the victims and free treatment for the injured, who are being treated at the district hospital and at makeshift medical centres of Shanti Kunj. Shanti Kunj Ashram also announced a compensation of an identical amount.
District authorities ordered the organisers to call off the four-day event that was due to end on Thursday when a large number of people are expected to take a dip in the Ganga to mark ‘Kartik Poornima’. The organisers agreed to end the celebrations tomorrow after a prayer meeting but the yajna -- the main function of the ongoing centenary festival - was cancelled today itself.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has expressed grief over the stampede tragedy and sanctioned financial assistance to the families of those killed and injured. Families of those killed will get Rs 1 lakh each and those seriously injured will get Rs 50,000 each, a release from the PMO said.
BJP president Nitin Gadkari also visited the stampede site and met some of the injured. Governor Margaret Alva also expressed grief over the incident. Meanwhile, the Shanti Kunj ashram has accepted moral responsibility for the tragic incident.
“We sypmathise with the deceased families and are shocked as we didn’t envisage such a tragedy could occur,” said head Pranav Pandya.
Unexpected rush of devotees proved fatal: Pandya
Haridwar, November 8
On Monday evening, Uttarakhand Chief Minister after performing yajna rituals at the yajnashala at Laljiwala, where a stampede occurred today, had lauded the management of the Shantikunj family in hosting such a well-managed festival on a grand scale.
On Monday evening, Uttarakhand Chief Minister after performing yajna rituals at the yajnashala at Laljiwala, where a stampede occurred today, had lauded the management of the Shantikunj family in hosting such a well-managed festival on a grand scale.
But today, he was seeking details from Shantikunj head Dr Pranav Pandya and district administrative officials of the cause of the stampede that took a toll of 16 people, just outside the yajnashala.
The decision by the Shantikunj family of managing the grand centenary celebrations on the occasion of its founder Pt Shri Ram Sharma Acharya’s birth anniversary proved fatal.
The administrative help was sought only for getting permission regarding land venue, electricity, water and only VIP security.
But Shantikunj administrators forgot that Mahakumbh 2010 was hosted with the help of 22,000 mela police personnel and a separate mela administration which worked almost 2 years prior to the commencement of the mega fair.
Acknowledging that they had mistaken the number of people coming to attend the function, Dr Pandya said they had failed in their calculation of the number of people as they exceeded almost 10 lakh by today only. Dr Pandya had told mediapersons on October 11 that they had restricted the number of Akhil Bharatiya Gayatri Parivar activists to visit Haridwar by 8 lakh.
But as the festival began on November 6, Dr Pandya claimed that this festival would be attended by 50 lakh people, forgetting the repercussions that this crowd would have on the infrastructure.
District Magistrate of Haridwar D Senthyl Pendiyan also accepted this fact that due to the administration not being in the thick of things regarding the events, particulary yajnashala, was a major hindrance in providing timely relief to the stampede victims.
He said on his level, an ADM will probe this matter and will be submitting a report, after which only he will take any step. Similarly, SP Traffic Dr Kiran Lal Shaw last night pointed to the organisers of having a special monitoring of the yajnashala area at Laljiwala and also at the temporary bridge that led to the yajnashala, adjacent to the Dehradun-Haridwar national highway.
“This is a minor incident and during such big occasions, not much emphasis should be given to these. We have hosted such mass-scale yajnas at various other cities successfully, people are participating in thousands which point out that the incident was a minor”, remarked media spokesperson of the centenary festival Divyesh Vyas which itself reflects the way organizers tried to downplay the tragedy.
Dehadun, November 8Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri has expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death caused due to stampede and suffocation in Haridwar today. He expressed profound regret that such an incident occurred in the holy land of Haridwar in Uttarakhand. He announced the grant of financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. He also said the state government would bear the cost of treatment of all those who had been injured in the mishap.
Earlier in the morning, Khanduri set aside his scheduled programme to Srinagar Garhwal and immediately rushed to Haridwar upon learning of the incident. Upon arrival at Haridwar, he obtained full details of the incident from the officials. He also went to the mishap site and met the injured persons in local hospitals and enquired about the treatment being given to them.
The Chief Minister said in their hour of distress, all residents of the state had sympathy for the deceased. This was indeed the saddest moment that such an incident had happened in Uttarakhand. He said the congregation of devotees was an event organised by the Gayatri Parivar. The administration would take all precautionary measures in all such programmes to be organised in the future to avert any recurrence of such incidents, he said.
Functions cancelled
DEHRADUN: In view of the tragic incident of stampede at Haridwar in which 16 pilgrims were killed, the state government has cancelled all programmes and cultural functions to be organised on the state Foundation Day on November 9. According to a press release, only a book release programme would be held. All other cultural programmes have been cancelled.
Unruffled BJP chief attends cultural festival near accident site
Haridwar, November 8
Despite 16 persons died in a stampede, shockingly just 200 metres away, a cultural festival continued at Kala Manch, Rodi belwala, here today. Showing no concern for the deceased and injured, the Shantikunj administration tried to downplay the tragic incident.
Despite 16 persons died in a stampede, shockingly just 200 metres away, a cultural festival continued at Kala Manch, Rodi belwala, here today. Showing no concern for the deceased and injured, the Shantikunj administration tried to downplay the tragic incident.
Even BJP leaders didn’t show any sympathy with the deceased, with BJP national president Nitin Gadkari being the chief guest at Kala Manch.
To the tunes of a musical group, Gadkari along with BJP Uttarakhand chief Bishan Singh Chufal was present on the dais and were given a warm welcome by organisers.
It seemed as if nothing had happened here or all had forgotten the tragedy and were happy in being part of this grand celebration.
When Dr Pranav Pandya, head of the Shantikunj, was asked about the tragedy initially, he declined any such incident occurring in the Laljiwala area. It was only after the media pressure that an official confirmation was made, which also tried to hide the number of victims. Their media spokesperson only said just five bodies had been found and everything was normal with people participating at yajnashala with enthusiasm.
Though later the Shantikunj administration cancelled the cultural and all other programmes with immediate effect and said tomorrow at yajnashala, prayers will be held for the peace to the departed souls of the deceased.
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