Prayagraj Mahakumbh Stampede | UP CM orders judicial probe: ‘Such incidents give us lessons’

Deepali Srivastava consoles Saumya, who lost her mother. (Express photo by Chitral Khambhati)

In a notification issued later, the government stated that the probe would cover two points — a) finding out the reasons and circumstances that caused the incident, and b) to give suggestions about preventing such happenings in future. The commission has been given one month to submit the report but it could be extended.

VIDEO | Maha Kumbh 2025: Addressing a press conference, DIG Kumbh Mela Vaibhav Krishna confirms 30 casualties in the stampede incident.

“On the Mauni Amavasya Snan, between 1 and 2 am ahead of the Brahm Muhurta, huge crowd gathered on the Akhara route, because of which the… pic.twitter.com/rgauSELmhJ

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 29, 2025

In a statement, the CM said: “These incidents give us lessons as well. We have decided to go into the roots of this incident. We will conduct a judicial inquiry into it because after so many reviews of arrangements and keeping vigilance at the local level such a tragedy took place. The inquiry is being done to find out the reasons.”

“Besides this, monitoring was done by the CM Control room, DGP control room, and Chief Secretary control room; and meetings were conducted the whole day. Prime Minister (Narendra Modi), Union Home Minister (Amit Shah), Railway Minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw), BJP national president (J P Nadda) and UP Governor (Anandiben Patel) have been coordinating since morning,” the CM said.

Crowds surge at the Mahakumbh grounds. (Express Photo by Chitral Khambhati)

“It is very natural that questions are being raised on these issues. This Mauni Amavasya Snan is the main Snan and all the roads were choked. The administration was engaged to clear those choked roads. After the incident, the akharas had postponed the Amrit Snan scheduled at 4 am and this was done later in the afternoon. There has been a pressure of over 8 crore pilgrims in Prayagraj and they had been stopped in adjoining districts by setting up hoarding areas. They have now been released after the Amrit Snan by akharas. There has been immense pressure at different railway stations in Prayagraj and railways operated over 300 trains to carry the pilgrims to their destinations,” the CM added.

According to the CM, the incident “occurred due to a huge crowd breaking the barricades at Akhara Marg and crossing the barricades by jumping over it”.

Crowd at Maha Kumbh Mela on Mauni Amavasya in Prayagraj on January 29. (Express photo/ Chitral Khambhati)

Announcing an ex-gratia of `25 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased, the CM said, “This is a very sad incident… Our heartfelt condolence is for the kin of these persons. We have been in regular contact with the Mela administration and the police. All required arrangements were made following the relief work done by making a green corridor rushing the injured to hospital.”

The chief minister said the DGP and the chief secretary will go to Prayagraj on Thursday to look into all the issues, and the arrangements required for the upcoming events at Maha Kumbh.

Later, the CM issued a slew of guidelines on crowd management, traffic flow, prevention of build-up of devotees and coordination among departments.

He ordered the deployment of Ashish Goyal, who served as Divisional Commissioner of Prayagraj during Kumbh 2019, and Bhanu Goswami, a former vice-chairman of ADA, to further strengthen the arrangements, according to an official statement.

Relatives of the stampede victims outside the mortuary of a hospital in Prayagraj on Wednesday. (Chitral Khambhati)

He said the incumbent ADG and the District Magistrate of Prayagraj must ensure safe and smooth departure of every devotee. Five Special Secretary-level officers are being assigned to oversee operations, according to the government statement.

It said they will remain in Prayagraj until February 12 to assist in streamlining the arrangements. Moreover, Superintendent of Police-level officers will also be deployed for enhanced management and security, the statement said.

With PTI Inputs