Kerala Govt put 3 cops on duty for 3 lakh pilgrims

How casually the state government handled the pilgrimage centre is evident from the fact that Pullumedu,which has been attracting thousands of pilgrims every year,does not even have a single toilet or drinking water.

This is how the stampede,which exposed the shocking lack of preparation,happened:

Nearly 3 lakh devotees were waiting to have a glimpse of Makara Jyoti,believed to be a celestial light on the Sankranti day by the devotees of Sabarimalas Lord Ayyappa,on the slopes of four hillocks at Pullumedu,8 km from the shrine,within the Periyar Tiger Reserve. As soon as the the light was seen around 7 pm,the pilgrims rushed down to the vehicles waiting at Uppupara,a junction one km away,which comes alive only during the pilgrim season.

Thousands of pilgrims were coming down the roadwhich,with make-shift eateries and shops on either side,narrows down when it reaches the junctionwhile taxi and autorickshaw drivers waited to pick up commuters and shuttle to nearby towns of Vandiperiyar and Kumili.

At 8.15 pm,drivers of a jeep and an autorickshaw got into a fight over passengers. A group of pilgrims got into the jeep,while a few of them climbed on its top. As the jeep and the auto blocked the road,the pilgrims,who were coming down from the hills and could not move further,got restless.

A section tried to pull the auto to one side of the road. Suddenly,the jeep started moving and the pilgrims on its top fell down,triggering a stampede.

Panic-stricken devotees trampled over those who had fallen.

By the time people from the nearby eateries rushed to remove the railings to widen the narrow road,scores had died.

Recalled M A Thambi,who runs an eatery: There was no electricity. We broke the fencing to allow the people to escape. Otherwise,the magnitude of the tragedy would have been much worse.

K Mohanan,another shop owner at Pulllumedu,said a majority of the victims had died on the spot. Their bodies were badly damaged as hundreds had trampled over them. Although lakhs of people assemble here,there was not even a single ambulance, he said.

Forester K G George said the taxis and autos had left the spot after the stampede without taking the victims to the hospitals. The bodies were loaded into two trucks that came to Pullumedu to collect the restaurant waste. Later,on the way down Vandiperiyar,some of the bodies were moved to ambulances, he said.

The absence of a communication network also delayed the rescue operation. The world outside came to know about the tragedy after 9 pm. The mud road through the forest also delayed rescue work.

Crime Branch Deputy Superintendent D Sailm Raj,who is probing the tragedy,said only an assistant sub-inspector and two constables were on duty at Pullumedu. There should have been adequate police personnel to control the crowd. The hillocks can accommodate only 50,000 people. But,at least three lakh had been in the region when the stampede happened, he said. Additional DGP P Chandrashekharan,who is in charge of the Sabarimala police security,conceded that the issue had not been addressed effectively.

Just eight km from the Sabarimala shrine,Pullumedu offers a vantage point for witnessing the Makara Jyoti. Also,during the 60-day-long festival season,lakhs of devotees use the forest path for trekking to reach the shrine.