Anger spilt onto streets as residents claim mismanagement on part of state administration
- By Lata Rani, correspondent
Patna: Angry residents on Saturday clashed with police, shouted slogans against the government and blocked main roads in Bihar a day after a deadly stampede during a popular Hindu festival organised to mark the victory of good over evil killed 33 people in the capital city of Patna.
The stampede broke out Friday evening while a crowd of over 200,000 people who had gathered at the sprawling Gandhi Maidan to watch the burning of the effigy of demon King Ravana were returning home after the function was over. The stampede was triggered by a rumour that a live wire had fallen on the venue which led to huge rush at the lone exit gate for the commoners.
Anger spilt out on the streets on Saturday when a huge number of irate residents gathered near Ram Gulam Chowk located just outside the Gandhi Maidan and resorted to slogan-shouting against the state government to protest the gross mismanagement on the part of the state administration to manage the crowd and save lives. The crowd turned restive and clashed with the police after the latter tried to clear traffic by using mild force.
The traffic was finally cleared after a few protesters were taken into custody, but the protest did not end. Eventually, the state administration had to make a heavy deployment of Rapid Action Force and Bihar Military Police commandos to keep the situation under control.
Similar scenes were witnessed outside the Patna Medical College and Hospital where a furious crowd of wailing citizens blocked roads to protest lack of proper medicare for their kin who were admitted to the hospital after being severely wounded in the stampede. The mob was also angry over the way the hospital authorities did not allow them to see their injured kin and take the bodies of their near and dear ones declared dead in the incident.
A total of 33 people have been declared dead in the Friday stampede. While 32 died on the spot, one more victim succumbed to injuries on Saturday, taking the toll to 33. Of the total victims, 17 are females, 11 children and five males.
In another twist, the public health and engineering minister Mahachandra Prasad Singh today alleged a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the whole tragedy. “There seems to be a deep-rooted political conspiracy behind the incident and I demand a high-level probe to bring out the truth,” the minister told the media today. “The function had been organised peacefully and the people were returning home after celebrating the festival when someone in the crowd spread the rumour about the fall of live wire on the venue which led to stampede,” he added.
Meanwhile, authorities began investigation in the case Saturday amid protests by the shouting mob. A team of officials comprising Home Secretary Aamir Subhani and additional director general of police (headquarters) Gupteshwar Pandey rushed to the spot and made a site inspection to study the causes of death. They have been asked by the chief minister to submit the probe report within 24 hours.
“We have just began investigation into the incident and can’t say about the cause of death,” home secretary told the media adding he had just made a spot inspection. He said he would talk to the witnesses before coming to any conclusion. Pandey, another official entrusted with the investigation responsibility, said it would be unfair to blame any official before making a proper inquiry.
However, the Patna district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma said the incident occurred apparently due to huge crowds at the venue, strongly denying any administrative lapses on his part. “It took some three hours for the people to fill up the venue but they began rushing out of the venue at once which led to huge rush at the exit point. The problem got further compounded by the fact there was traffic jam on the main road just outside the venue which apparently led to this incident,” the DM told a media briefing in Patna on Saturday. According to him, more than 200,000 people had turned up at the venue for the occasion.
“Traditionally, it’s job of the puja (worship) committees to hold such function, and not of the administration. We only assist the committees in certain matters.” The DM said the administration was rushing relief to the victim’s families with ex-gratia money given to 14 of the 33 victim’s families. He said the remaining cheques would be delivered soon.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties and even those supporting the ruling Janata Dal (United) government blamed administrative failures for the deadly stampede. “The local administration seemed to have a very little knowledge of crowd management — the incident was a unique example of administrative lapses,” alleged Rashtriya Janata Dal spokesman Manoj Jha.
This is the third time in quick succession that Bihar has been struck by tragedy. Last year in October, seven people were killed when terrorists attacked a BJP rally in Gandhi Maidan addressed by Narendra Modi. Before that 17 people were killed when a stampede broke out during the Hindu festival of Chhatha in November 2012. However, the state administration does not seem to have leant any lesson from those incidents.
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