12 Hindu Pilgrims died in a stampede in Panchmahal

As per reports 12 Hindu Pilgrims have died and scores injured in a stampede during a religious festival at the hilltop temple of the Goddess Mahakali in Panchmahal near Ahmadabad in Gujarat.

Hindu Festival in India

Hindu pilgrims will never learn the lesson and authorities/organizers of religious festivals continue to turn blind eyes to the importance of safety. This is not the first time that such incident has happened. It keeps on happening each and every year.

The responsibilities of such incidents lie with authorities who fail to regulate the influx of pilgrims in such places. Most of the Hindu shrines/temples are situated on either hilltops or in narrow places or high on snowy mountains and access to these places are not only narrow but also difficult. Add thousands, sometimes millions, of pilgrims flocking to these places all at same time and you will get an idea of a catastrophic incident waiting to happen.

It is not too difficult to organize and regulate the flow of pilgrims. Best example is last Mahakumbh at Prayag. It went smoothly without any incident and it is more than miracle in itself. Considered to be the largest gathering of human race at any single place, Mahakumbh was more than triumph for the authorities. Organizing such small gathering as in Panchamahal could not have been a difficult task.

Given the history of such incidents authoriti4es should have taken necessary steps to prevent such fatal incidents happening. Don’t forget that most of such pilgrims come from rural area and have no common sense of following any rules of safety and in such cases it is up to the authorities to provide complete safety.

The authorities responsible for such incident should be punished and lesson should be learn from this event to take care of organizing such events with all safety precautions.

All said well, is there anyone listening to me?

Om Shanti!!!