Mahakumbh stampede: Judicial panel says will wrap up probe ‘as early as possible’

The crowd at a railway station in Prayagraj on Thursday. (Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Besides the retired judge of the Allahabad High Court, the other two members of the panel are retired IAS officer DK Singh and retired IPS officer VK Gupta.

Justice (retd) Kumar said the commission members would soon visit Prayagraj to assess the situation firsthand.

According to a government notification, the commission has been tasked with examining the causes and circumstances that led to the stampede and providing recommendations to prevent such incidents in future. The notification states that the investigation report has to be submitted within one month of the commission’s formation.

While announcing the judicial probe, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, in a statement, 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 the arrangements done and keeping vigilance at the local level such tragedy took place. The inquiry is being done to find out the reasons.”

Elderly people travel on a cart to the Mela. (Reuters)

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh and Director General of Police Prashant Kumar on Thursday reached Prayagraj for a detailed probe into the stampede. On Wednesday, while announcing a judicial probe into the incident, the chief minister said that UP Police would conduct a separate inquiry into the incident.

Accompanied by senior district administrative officials, the chief secretary and the DGP inspected the site of the stampede in the Mela area. They later chaired a review meeting. “The accident cannot be undone, but our priority is to ensure that the Amrit Snan on Basant Panchami is executed with the best possible arrangements,” the chief secretary said after the review meeting.

In the ongoing Kumbh, Makar Sankranti was the first amrit snan (earlier called shahi snan) day, and Mauni Amavasya the second. The third is Basant Panchami on February 3. Shiv Ratri, which falls on February 26, the last day of the Kumbh Mela, is also significant.

Family members of Basanti Poddar after her body reached Kolkata, Thursday. (Express photo)

Emphasizing the need to prevent excessive crowding at Sangam during the upcoming Amrit Snan, he directed that multi-level barricading should be implemented to regulate the flow of devotees and the diversion plan must be strictly enforced. He also informed officials that the chief minister has deployed additional senior officers to further enhance the arrangements.

In a bid to further strengthen the arrangements at the Maha Kumbh, the Uttar Pradesh government has deployed two former senior officers on Mela duty — Ashish Goyal, who served as divisional commissioner of Prayagraj for the 2019 Kumbh; and Bhanu Goswami, former vice chairman of the Agra Development Authority.

Additionally, five special secretary-level officers are being assigned to oversee operations. All of them will remain in Prayagraj till February 12 to assist in streamlining the arrangements.

Devotees at the Sangam, a day after the stampede. (Image: Chitral Khambhati)

These officers will assist in planning and executing measures to ensure maximum convenience for pilgrims, making their bathing and movement experience seamless and memorable, the chief secretary said.

The review meeting was attended by UP Power Corporation Chairman Ashish Goyal, Principal Secretary (Urban Development) Amrit Abhijat, ADG Bhanu Bhaskar, Commissioner Vijay Vishwas Pant, Police Commissioner Tarun Gaba, DIG Vaibhav Krishna, and SSP Rajesh Dwivedi.

The chief secretary and DGP also visited Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital to meet the injured devotees.