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Journalism of Courage
The stampede at the Naina Devi temple in Himachal Pradesh8217;s Bilaspur district appears to have been entirely avoidable. The Shravan Ashtami fairs attract hundreds of pilgrims a day to each of that state8217;s many temples; remote though they are, the numbers have been growing yearly. The basic infrastructure at such places across the country, however, is yet to catch up.
Rural districts with historic temples are profiting from the explosion of religious tourism brought on by increased road access and a freshly mobile middle class. Few of those resources are being farmed back into investing in keeping those tourists secure. Larger events have seen some improvement of late: the last Ardh Kumbh Mela in 2007 and the Rath Yatras in Puri have invested in updated crowd control measures and even offer catastrophe insurance to pilgrims, which helps with funding. Smaller events need to learn which procedures can be adopted and adapt them to their needs. The local administration needs to work closely with temple authorities to ensure this happens. Temple trusts too must shed their antiquated structure, enter the modern age, and raise funds on the markets; people are, after all, always willing to pay for their security, and smaller trusts should recognise that the non-religious part of their activities can be expanded and made to pay sufficiently that investments can be recouped.
