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At least 18 people were killed and more than a dozen injured in a stampede during Chhath Puja in Patna on Oct,19th,2012.
What Happend
The natural course of river Ganges has shifted and took almost a 90 degree turn heading north leaving spate of land what we called Delta in geography. The Administration put one Pontoon bridge and two makeshift foot-over bridge for devotees to reach this delta as groove of stinky water was passing at place of earlier course of the river. As the two makeshift bridge made up of bamboo(called "chachri" in local language) erected fugitively at the eleventh-hour, was weak enough to bear the crowd, subsequently collapsed partially one by one on that fateful monday evening, bifurcated the crowd on two-sides. Those who could not reach the "diara" side took a U-turn to reach the next ghat(Adalat) where the strong pontoon bridge helped them cross the stinky water. It was around 6pm of local time(+5:30 GMT) and the pontoon bridge got the crowd of another two partially collapsed "chachri" bridges.
It was not the strength of the pontoon bridge to blame but it was the dangerously steep approach link path upto this bridge that invited the tragedy. The end of the pontoon bridge was too high compelled to got a steep merger touching the ground at city end. After the Arghya (offering holy water and milk to the Goddess Sun by standing in the waist-deep water in the river) most of the devotees were returning with the large basket("daura" in local language) over their head. The outnumbered devotees began to jostle in the steep alley as there were no one to regulate the crowd. Amid this kerfuffle, some youths attempted to cross-over through the rooftop of nearby illegal jhuggis(illegal huts on pavements). The asbestos roof failed to bear the load and collapsed with a bang leading to commotion in the crowd. Moreover as the power supply in the area was given using generators, it got tripped as the wire also got damaged. As the power supply went off the chaos went uncontrolled and stampede occured. Rest is the headline story.
Screams And Commotion Follows
People rushed to state's largest hospital Patna Medical College and Hospital, PMCH(that shares the same boundry wall where the stampede took place) within minutes and the entire hospital premises turns into a place full of screams and sore. The pepetual inflow of severely injured children made the scene intolerable. But the worst was waiting ahead as there were only one doctor with no staves in the hospital emergency. Moreover that only doctor dodge witnessing the enormity of the tragedy as attendent went panic. As people gathered around comes to know the absence of doctors and the negligence therein they lost temperament, went violent, attacked the policemen stranded there. The emotional outburst turrned violent and the crowd pummelled the police gypsy and passing vehicles on the arterial road called Ashok Rajpath, pelted stones and vandalished the vehicles parked inside the hospital premises. Before administration could react, dozens of vehicles along with three police gypsy vandalished right in front of the local Pirbahore police station. It is relevant to know that the two ghats Mahendru and Adalatganj, the Pirbahore police station and the hospital(PMCH) happens in a row within a range of 500 meters.
Administration: Before and After
The largest hospital of Bihar or the epitome of healthcare in a changed Bihar fails drastically in such critical moment left an indelible stain on the white gowns. All those brought to this hospitals had to approach to the nearby private hospitals. A large size defunct white ambulance of the hospital remained there failed to play any role. The ambulance running on PPP mode under call up 108 reached the scene within time but few in numbers. By then the city SP Jayant Raj appeared on the scene and by his orders all private ambulance were put into service. While State's top officials were busy making sure that treatment be given at the PMCH itself to rein in the death toll, reserve forces were brought in and curfew like situation were witnessed to control the public wrath.
Political Realms Reacts
The approaching alley to the banks of river Ganges proved to be death trap as more than half of the width of the road is encroached, accepted the Deputy Chief Minister of the State. Mr. Modi accepted this bottleneck as prima-facie to be blamed for the tragedy. An inquiry at Chief Secretary level has been ordered by the Chief Minister and report is supposed to made public in 5 days. A compensation payment of Rupees 2 lakh (0.2 million) given to the family of each deceased. The main opposition party RJD demanded a CBI enquiry and the compensation to be increase to the tune of Rupees 25 lakh(2.5 million). Another leader Ramvilas Paswan demanded the CM to accept the responsibility for the tragedy and his urgent resignation.
Reason: The V-Factor
Technically the huge encroachment by the side of the link road to the river banks, are to be blamed as the main reason for the tragedy. Due to this the 100 meter(approx) long connecting path to ghats proves impassable for a huge crowd of 50000 to 70000 people twice within a limited timeframe of 3-4 hours. Moreover, the steep approach at both ends(from the place where stampede occured) presented great challeges for devotees to walk over with overhead loads. It is relevant to know that the stampede occured at this very lowest area and more than a dozen children dead at this very spot.
Chhath: The Apex of Sanctity
Chhath is the most revered and the biggest festival of Bihar and neighbouring areas.Unlikely to other festivals, it is not just an opportunity for celebration, it is beyond that. Chhath Puja is a mark of tradition, culture and rituals significantly underscores the importance of cleanliness and self-discipline. It defines the way of living. It's shows the widest horizon of Hiduism that believes in humanity and nature above all. Enriched by the vibrance of every religion, even some muslims took part while some keep fast and follow the set rituals too. During the four day long fest even the Crime rate drops surprisingly in the state as even criminals got reverence for this festival of festivals and reluctant to do a bad job during the puja week. It is a community festival that makes conglomoration of devotees at the public place like banks of rivers and ponds.
