Even as rumours continued to do the rounds about the cause and effect of the stampede at Mandhardevi Kalubai hill temple, wherein 264 lives were lost on Tuesday, the obvious questions still remain unanswered. For, nearly 48 hours after the incident, the only thing that is clear is: the district administration had no contingency plan in the eventuality of such a mishap.Not that the authorities are new to such mammoth gatherings (over two lakh on Tuesday), ‘‘there are nine big yatras happening around the year in this region,’’ IG (Kolhapur) K.K. Pathak said. But since a tragedy of such magnitude had never taken place here, the authorities did not bother to think of a contingency plan. ‘‘Every year close to two lakh people come, but this (the stampede) was quite unanticipated. We had no back-up plan,’’ Satara SP C.G. Kumbhar admitted.‘‘With over a lakh people coming in, there can be no plan. It is difficult to control such large gathering,’’ Satara district collector Subrao Patil is blunt. ‘‘What could have been done ? Despite all difficulties, we were able to move the casualties to the hospital within two hours of the incident. The mob was also brought under control.’’But though the incident occurred at 12.40 pm, the first form of help arrived a good three hours late. Here is Tuesday’s sequence of events showing how lax or alert the district administration was in handling the crisis:• 12 noon: SP Kumbhar gets a call from the wireless centre set up at the foothills of the temple that the crowd was becoming unmanageable. With only 200 policemen controlling over two lakh people, Kumbhar immediately rushes 36-odd policemen. • 12.40 pm: Two people fall on the floor made slippery by oil from the deepmaal and water from breaking coconuts. Angry exchanges take place between two groups, while people keep on pushing and jostling. Result: Stampede as people try to force their way through the 10-feet narrow exit route lined with shops on both sides. • Around 1.15 pm: Kumbhar gets a call from the District Collector that tehsildar near the temple had called in to report a mishap. No details given.• Between 1.15 pm-1.30 pm: SP and collector leave for the Temple from Satara; distance: 57 km.• 1.30 pm: Crowd sets fire to a shop, gas cylinders burst. ‘‘People went berserk.No sign of any policeman,’’ says eyewitness Ravi Botalji.• 3.45 pm: SP and District Collector reach the temple. The access road is blocked with vehicles and people rushing down. ‘‘We had to park our car and walk 3 km to reach the temple. On the way, we informed ambulance, fire brigade and asked for extra police reinforcements,’’ said Kumbhar. ‘‘There was one inspector on the top, but he was manhandled by the people and he could not pass information to the wireless centre.’’ By the time Kumbhar was able to reach the spot, the damage was done.However, Botalji says though the SP and collector reached the spot at around 3.45 pm, they went down immediately and were waiting for reinforcements. ‘‘Till 5 pm there were no signs of any help or rescue operations. That was when the crowd beat up the tehsildar.Pune Cantonment fire brigade superintendent Prakash Hasbe, who had come with a 11-member team, said they were informed at 5 pm on Tuesday to rush to the temple. ‘‘We left at 5.30 pm and were able to reach there only at 9.30 pm (from Pune, the temple is around 107 km). And we found there was only one well to draw water,’’ he said.
