The stampede that claimed three lives in Odisha’s Puri had gross administrative lapses and negligence written all over it. One of the most popular religious festivals of the country, this year’s Rath Yatra saw the largest bandobast of security in recent memory. Over 10,000 police personnel were pressed into duty and 22 IPS officers manned various responsibilities, with the state administration’s top brass watching over the arrangements. Yet, in the small hours of Sunday, an utterly avoidable tragedy occurred. Eye-witnesses complained that inadequate police presence and poor medical response led to the death of devotees, two of them middle-aged women.
The journey of the deities from Srimandir to Gundicha temple this time, in state law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan’s admission, witnessed 1.5 times the normal crowd. The first day of the yatra always draws the largest footfall, as it involves chariot-pulling for which devotees from all over the world converge. The ritual has witnessed crowd surges in the past, too. But never has any mishap been recorded on the third day of the festival. The police as well as the Jagannath temple administration had clear knowledge of the devotees’ inflows since a large number of vehicles had made a beeline for the town the night of the mishap; but it went unresponded. The outcome was an all-round coordination failure despite having the required resources and technology at hand.
The BJP government responded by removing the district collector and a police superintendent, and suspending two police officers. It ordered an administrative inquiry and carried out a shake-up in the overall management, since other key segments of the festival are due over the next five days. Cherry-picking fall guys can assuage the prevailing mood, but accountability must be fixed and it should start right from the top. The government would also do well to explain the role of the special panel headed by a deputy chief minister constituted to ensure smooth conduct of the festival. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s personal apology to Jagannath devotees for the loss of lives was earnest; but he must use the opportunity to crack the whip and prepare a robust blueprint for crowd management—for both the temple and the yatra. Professional management using data science and case studies of other festivals must be explored. The probe into the tragedy must not be perfunctory—it must lay a safer road ahead.