PRAYAGRAJ The Allahabad high court has directed the Mahakumbh administration at Prayagraj to learn a lesson from last year’s stampede in Hathras that claimed 121 lives and make proper arrangements for the upcoming Mahakumbh.
The high court gave this direction while asking the then district magistrate and Hathras superintendent of police to personally appear on January 15 to explain why they should not be held liable for the Hathras stampede.
Hearing a case relating to the stampede, Justice Shekhar Kumar Yadav said such incidents were the result of poor arrangements made by the organisers.
“The organisers call innocent people for their benefit and due to lack of proper arrangements, such incidents happen. It is the responsibility of the administration to see whether there is proper arrangement of police force, medical (facilities), etc., or not,” the court said, while hearing the bail plea of one Manju Devi, an accused in the Hathras stampede incident.,” the court said, while hearing the bail plea of one Manju Devi, an accused in the Hathras stampede incident.
The court further said, “In the past, many such incidents have been seen where lakhs of people gather in such events, besides poor and illiterate people gather due to faith and belief and due to losing their temper, people die untimely in the stampede.”
{{/usCountry}}The court further said, “In the past, many such incidents have been seen where lakhs of people gather in such events, besides poor and illiterate people gather due to faith and belief and due to losing their temper, people die untimely in the stampede.”
{{/usCountry}}During the court proceedings, the state government counsel said the organisers at Hathras had sought permission estimating a crowd of 80,000 people, but a crowd of 2.5 lakh turned up at the venue.
On July 2, 2024, a stampede occurred during the “satsang” organised by the followers of Surajpal alias Bhole Baba at Fulrai Mughalgarhi village of Hathras district, leaving 121 dead and several injured, the state counsel added.
While an FIR was registered on the complaint of sub-inspector Brijesh Pandey, the petitioner’s name cropped up during the investigation.
In this backdrop, the court expressed the need for the district and the police administration to take lessons from the Hathras incident and make proper arrangements for the upcoming Mahakumbh in Prayagraj to avoid such mishaps.
The state government has claimed 40 crore pilgrims are expected to visit the Mahakumbh 2025 from across the world to have a holy dip at the Sangam for salvation. The first auspicious bath – Paush Purnima -- will be held on January 13. The Mahakumbh will continue till Maha Shivratri on February 26.
The court has fixed January 15 as the next date of hearing in the case.