Uttarakhand: On the stampede, the president of Mansa Devi Temple Trust said – the accident happened due to a person slipping, the electric wire was not broken, compensation has also been announced…

The Mansa Devi Trust temple in Uttarakhand has been reopened on Sunday. The Trust’s president Mahant Ravindra Puri has rejected the reports that the accident happened due to the rumour of a power wire breaking. He said that the stampede happened due to someone slipping and falling inside the temple. At least 8 people have died and 30 people are injured in the stampede that took place at this temple in Haridwar on Sunday morning. Four of the deceased are from Uttar Pradesh, one from Bihar and one from Uttarakhand.

Not an incident of electric shock

Mahant Ravindra Puri said, ‘This is not an incident of electric shock and there are no signs of this happening. We will help the victim families. He said that this incident happened when a huge crowd had gathered here, the police was informed, barricades were put up, but still the crowd came and someone slipped, due to which this whole incident happened. He further said, ‘There are three ways to go to Mansa Devi temple – ropeway, vehicle path and an old one straight from Har Ki Pauri, the police was informed when a huge crowd gathered here, barricades were put up, but still the crowd came up and a person slipped, due to which this whole incident happened.’

Treatment of injured in AIIMS Rishikesh

The State Disaster Management Center said that five people were seriously injured in the incident and 23 others suffered minor injuries. Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami visited the district hospital in Haridwar and met the injured. The injured are undergoing treatment and some have been referred to AIIMS Rishikesh. According to the government, its priority is to provide good treatment to the injured so that they recover soon. A toll-free number has also been issued. CM Dhami said that orders for a magisterial inquiry have been given and an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured has also been announced.

Action will be taken against the culprits

On the instructions of the Chief Minister, the District Magistrate of Haridwar has been ordered to conduct a magisterial inquiry into the incident. Apart from this, the CMO said that a thorough review of crowd management and security arrangements is being done to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future. CM Dhami said, ‘An unfortunate incident has taken place in which six people have died and many others have been injured in a stampede due to a rumor at the Mansa Devi temple. Orders for a magisterial inquiry have been given, the injured have been taken to the hospital and rescue operations are on. Strict action will be taken against whoever is found guilty. Every possible effort is being made to help the victims.’

What did the DM say

Meanwhile, Uttarakhand minister Ganesh Joshi said, ’14 seriously injured people have been referred to AIIMS Rishikesh and the rest are undergoing treatment at the district hospital. I have met them and they are fine. The government is providing full help to the victims. It would not be appropriate to draw any conclusion until a detailed investigation is done.’ Haridwar District Magistrate Mayur Dixit said, ‘We have come to know through pictures and videos that someone had spread the rumor of a power wire breaking. Looking at the injured or the dead, we did not get any such indication. We will investigate who spread the rumor.’

UP CM expressed grief

At the same time, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also expressed grief over the accident. He said, ‘The news of the death of devotees in an unfortunate accident on the Sri Mansa Devi Temple Road in Haridwar is extremely painful and disturbing. My condolences are with the bereaved families. Officers have been instructed to coordinate with the Uttarakhand government and hand over the bodies of the citizens of Uttar Pradesh who died in the accident to their home districts and to their families.’

After this, he said, ‘The family of each deceased from Uttar Pradesh in this accident will be provided financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh each by @UPGovt. On the other hand, the President of Mansa Devi Trust, Srimahant Ravindra Puri said that in this tragic incident, the families of the deceased will be given Rs 5 lakh each and the injured will be given Rs 1 lakh each by the Mansa Devi Trust. The trust will arrange a vehicle to take the family members of the deceased and the injured to their homes.

Questions raised on the arrangements

The stampede on Sunday on the way to Siddha Peeth Maa Mansa Devi Temple, located at a height of more than 500 feet on the Shivalik Hills in Haridwar, Uttarakhand, has raised questions about the arrangements made by the administration. Local people believe that despite the possibility of a large number of devotees coming due to the month of Sawan and Sunday, there were no arrangements by the administration for security and crowd control on the temple route, which resulted in the accident.

Meanwhile, a rumour of electric shock spread in the crowd and there was a stampede and people started falling on each other. Due to the narrow road, people did not find any place to escape. Some eyewitnesses have claimed that there was a short circuit near the electricity meter installed on the way and sparks came out, due to which panic spread among the people and they started running. After the stampede, the belongings of the devotees, prasad, chunaris offered to the mother goddess are scattered all around that place, which are testimony to the accident.

The crowd was passing over the people

Ajay Kumar (19), a resident of Badiyarpur in Bihar, who was admitted to hospital after being injured in the stampede, said that he was walking towards the temple amidst the crowd when suddenly the people walking ahead of him started running and then started falling. Ajay said, “I was also in the crowd, I also fell in the stampede and broke my leg.” 30-year-old Nirmala Devi, a resident of Sheeshgarh in Bareilly, who was going to the temple for darshan, was also injured in the stampede. Recalling the accident, Nirmala said that people going to the temple and coming from there suddenly collided with each other and started falling. Another eyewitness Mahendra Pratap Singh said that he was watching people coming and going from above when suddenly people started falling there. Mahendra said that he saw that many people were lying down who were screaming and the crowd was passing over them.