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Mahakumbh stampede: UP govt cancels all VVIP passes, while Opposition attacks Yogi govt for ‘mismanagement’, what caused the tragedy and how VIP movement affected the rush

Notably, the Mahakumbh stampede occurred at around 1-2 am, and at that time, there was no VIP movement ongoing and the crowd present at the Sangam nose, including those already sleeping, were waiting for the auspicious Brahma Muhurat to take the holy dip.

Shraddha Pandey
After the tragic stampede at MahaKumbh, White Yogi Adityanath government focused on rescue operations, many started blaming 'VIP movement' during the stampede for the tragedy

In a tragic turn of events, around 30 people lost their lives while 60 were injured in a stampede at Mahakumbh on 29th January. The stampede took place when a large number of devotees gathered to take a holy dip on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya (new moon).

Following the tragedy, Uttar Pradesh government has now declared the Mahakumbh Kshetra a no-vehicle zone and cancelled all VVIP passes to ensure a swift movement of devotees.  

In a late-night video conference with senior police officers and officials from several districts, including Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mirzapur, Basti, Jaunpur, Chitrakoot, Banda, Ambedkarnagar, Pratapgarh, Sant Kabir Nagar, Bhadohi, Rae Bareli and Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued several new guidelines.

These guidelines include a restriction on entry of vehicles in the Mahakumbh area, in order to ensure the safety of devotees and for better crowd management. For this, all the VVIP passes have been cancelled and none of the vehicles will be allowed entry into Kumbh Kshetra based on any special pass. Besides a ban on VVIP snans and escort vehicles, CM Yogi said that only bikes, ambulances, fire brigade vehicles and those of municipal corporation will be allowed.

In addition, vehicles coming from districts neighbouring Prayagraj will be stopped at the district border. The government has imposed a blanket ban on entry of four-wheelers in the district till 4th February.

CM Yogi Adityanath directed the officials to ensure that at no point crowd pressure should build up and that police and administration ensure there are no traffic jams in the city. The Chief Minister instructed the officials to increase patrolling and make sure that the traffic on Ayodhya-Prayagraj, Kanpur-Prayagraj, Fatehpur-Prayagraj, Lucknow-Pratapgarh-Prayagraj and Varanasi-Prayagraj routes is not blocked.

The administration has also been instructed to shift roadside vendors to empty areas. CM Yogi also instructed officials not to stop devotees visiting the Mela unnecessarily. In addition, proper food and drinking water should be provided to devotees wherever they are halting in the Mela area. CM Yogi Adityanath also asked officials to make proper use of barricades for crowd management in the Mela area.

In the wake of lakhs of devotees visiting Varanasi, Ayodhya, Chitrakoot and Mirzapur, CM Yogi instructed the administration to enhance vigilance and set up holding areas at border points.

The Uttar Pradesh CM also instructed ADG and Prayagraj District Magistrate to ensure a smooth and secure departure for devotees at the railway station preparing to leave the city after taking a holy dip at the Mahakumbh. The Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police have also been instructed to inspect the arrangements ahead of the third Shahi Snan on Basant Panchami (3rd February).

CM Yogi mourns tragic death of 30 devotees in Mahakumbh stampede, Judicial inquiry ordered

On Wednesday, CM Yogi Adityanath got emotional while speaking about the devotees who lost their lives in the stampede and said, “The incident is heart-wrenching. We express our deepest condolences to all those families who lost their loved ones. We have been in constant touch with the administration since last night. The Mela Authority, Police, Administration, NDRF, SDRF and all other arrangements that could be made have been deployed there.”

Among the deceased, four are from Karnataka, one from Assam and one from Gujarat. Around 36 people are being treated at a local medical college. The Uttar Pradesh government has announced financial assistance of Rs 25 lakh for the families of the deceased. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also ordered a judicial inquiry and said that a judicial committee will submit its report to the state government within a time limit.

“A three-member judicial commission will be headed by Justice Harsh Kumar, former DG VK Gupta and retired IAS DK Singh. We have been monitoring the entire incident from the CM’s, Chief Secretary and DGP’s control rooms throughout the day,” he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also reviewed the situation over a phone call with CM Yogi Adtiyanath. The Prime Minister asked CM Yogi to ensure immediate relief and expedite rescue efforts.

Some reports say that there was a second stampede just hours after the one that occurred at the Sangam Nose. This stampede reportedly happened on the Jhusi side, however, no casualties have been reported so far.

What caused the stampede

 29th January was the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, the new moon night of the Krishna Paksh of the Hindu month of Magh. The day holds special astrological significance since the Sun and Moon are in the same raashi of Makar or Capricorn. Taking a ritual bath on this occasion, especially at the Triveni Sangam washes away one’s sins. Due to the spiritual significance of the Shahi Snan on Mauni Amavasya, there was a huge crowd on the day the stampede happened. Reports say that about 10 crore people were heading to the Mela Kshetra to take a holy dip at that time. By 4 pm on Wednesday, around 5.7 crore people had performed the ritual bath.

The stampede unfolded at about 1-2 am when a massive crowd of devotees broke barricades and trampled on those sleeping on the ground waiting for the Brahma Muhurat at the festival. It must be noted that the crowd behind the barricade, who had just arrived, did not notice that there were people already sleeping on the ground and ended up trampling on them unintentionally.

These barricades, according to Vaibhav Krishna, Deputy Inspector General, Mahakumbh, were put up around the ghats gave way due to the sea of humanity trying to get through.  

“Before Brahma Muhurta, between 1 am to 2 am, a huge crowd gathered on the Akhara Marg. Due to this crowd, the barricades on the other side broke and the crowd ran over the devotees waiting to take a holy dip of Brahma Muhurta on the other side. About 90 people were taken to the hospital through ambulances but unfortunately, 30 devotees have died. Out of these 30, 25 have been identified and the rest are yet to be identified,”  DIG Vaibhav Krishna said.

These include 4 people from Karnataka, 1 from Assam, 1 from Gujarat…36 people are being treated at the local medical college. At present, the situation is normal. Keeping in mind the convenience of the devotees, CM Yogi Adityanath has requested all the Mahamandaleshwar, Saints, and Akharas to take a holy dip with some delay…Amrit Snan of the Akharas have been concluded safely,” the officer added.

Besides, there were no separate entry and exit routes at Sangam Nose. Reports say that people were going back from the same route they were coming from. Due to this when the stampede occurred, there was hardly any chance to escape and the devotees kept falling on top of each other.

Most of the pontoon bridges out of 30 were closed due to Amrit Snan. Due to this, a crowd of lakhs gathered at Sangam. It is being said that since these bridges were closed, several devotees had to walk several kilometres and decided to stay and rest at the Sangam nose. This apparently led to crowd build-up.

Notably, some eyewitnesses have claimed that some anti-social elements with their faces covered and carrying red flags had deliberately pushed people.

Meanwhile, one witness Sarojini from Karnataka said, “We came in a batch of 60 people in two buses, we were nine people in the group. Suddenly there was pushing in the crowd, and we got trapped. A lot of us fell down and the crowd went out of control. There was no chance for escape, there was pushing from all sides.”

Another injured victim said, “There was nowhere to go. Some people who pushed us were laughing while we begged them for kindness towards the children.”

Meanwhile, some devotees who managed to come out of the stampede safely asserted that the administration was not at fault as they had built ghats at various locations, however, many among the devotees were adamant about taking the holy dip at the Sangam ghat.

Some of the survivors of the stampede also claimed that when the stampede occurred, the police and CISF officials took considerable time to reach and control the situation. Reports say that a CISF company was stationed in Sector Number 10 and when the stampede occurred, it took the team much time to reach Sector 3 from Sector 10.

As the politicisation of a tragedy begins, did the VIP movement cause the stampede?

On social media, several videos of devotees complaining about being stopped 15-20 kilometres away from the Mela area due to VIP movement compelling the common people to walk long distances for hours. The frequent VIP movements resulted in longer queues, reduced space for walking, and general inconvenience for the common people. The VIP visits of BJP MP Hema Malini, Yog Guru Baba Ramdev, some actors and bureaucratic VIPs are being widely criticised by the netizens.

The Mahakumbh stampede is now being used by the opposition parties as an opportunity to attack the state government which so far has managed the magnificent event quite well.

In this vein, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi insinuated that somehow the administration’s special focus on VIP movement caused the stampede. “The news of several people being killed and many being injured due to stampede at Prayagraj Mahakumbh is extremely sad. I express my deepest condolences to the bereaved families and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured. Mismanagement, and administration’s special focus on VIP movement instead of common devotees are responsible for this tragic incident. There is still a lot of time left for the Maha Kumbh, many more Mahasnans are to take place. The government should improve the system to prevent a tragic incident like today from happening again. VIP culture should be curbed and the government should make better arrangements to meet the needs of common devotees…”

Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav demanded that the Indian Army be handed over the administration and management of Mahakumbh instead of the state government. “In order to re-instil faith in the system among the saint community and devotees who have come to the Maha Kumbh, it is necessary that the administration and management of the MahaKumbh should be immediately handed over to the Army instead of the UP government and administration. Now that the truth behind the claims of ‘world-class system’ have been exposed, those who were making these claims and spreading false propaganda should take moral responsibility for the people killed in this accident and resign from their posts.”

Notably, When Akhilesh Yadav was the Uttar Pradesh CM during the 2013 Kumbh Mela, he had entrusted the Mela management to SP leader Azam Khan. That year, on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, 42 devotees died in a stampede at Prayagraj Railway Station. OpIndia published a detailed report on the SP government’s sheer mismanagement, underuse of Centre-allocated funds and rampant irregularities.

Similarly, Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh also blamed the VIP culture as a major reason behind the massive crowd and stampede on Wednesday and said, “VIP culture is the main problem. Roads are being closed for VIP movement, causing chaos for the devotees.”

He claimed that the administration arrived at the Sangam Nose at about 1 am and began forcing people to take a holy dip adding that this created a stampede situation. “This created a stampede-like situation. My heart goes out to those affected. I appeal to the Chief Minister to immediately stop all VIP movements at the Maha Kumbh,” he said.

Meanwhile, the opposition-friendly ‘journalists’ also jumped on the bandwagon to attack the BJP government. In this vein, ‘journalist’ Sakshi Joshi wrote on X, “The administration was only busy serving the VIPs and Noida channels kept showing viral girl or IIT baba. If the media had not covered up the news of mismanagement, this stampede would not have happened and those people would have been alive today These are all the people responsible for their deaths.”

Similarly, ‘journalist’ Rohini Singh insinuated that the stampede happened due to ‘VIP management’ and said, “VIP vehicles will go, devotees will stay back. The VIPs will leave after taking a bath, the devotees will stay back, The media, which is calling the ‘VIP Management’ going on in the name of ‘traffic management’ as grand and divine, is still trying to cover up the tragic accident…This accident did not happen suddenly, the local residents present in Kumbh and Prayagraj were raising questions on this system every day.”

While it is undeniable that political and non-political VIP movement has caused significant distress to common people and resulted in crowded conditions in the Kumbh Kshetra, it was not essentially the reason behind the late-night stampede. In fact, DIG Vaibhav Krishna said that on the day of Mauni Amavasya, neither any VIP protocol was in place nor special passes were issued to any VIP.

The Mahakumbh stampede occurred at around 1-2 am, and at that time, there was no VIP movement ongoing and the crowd present at the Sangam nose, including those already sleeping, were waiting for the auspicious Brahma Muhurat to take the holy dip. The crowd of devotees there was not pushed or diverted to the Sangam Nose to facilitate any VIP movement.

In fact, a special zonal plan was brought up by the Prayagraj Mela Authority. It was decided that devotees would take holy dip at the nearest ghats within the Kumbh Kshetra instead of rushing to the Triveni Sangam Nose.  

For better crowd management on Mauni Amavasya, specific ghats and routes were designated for devotees in specific regions. Pilgrims coming from Kanpur were to be allowed to the Sangam Nose, those from Lucknow and Prayagraj were to bathe at Dashashmedh Ghat and others were to be directed to Nagvasuki, Rasulabad, and Phaphamau Ghats. Devotees from Mirzapur and Madhya Pradesh were to bathe at ghats near Arail Triveni Pushp and their movement to Sangam Nose was restricted.

Most importantly, nearly a week before the Mauni Amavasya, the Uttar Pradesh government had declared that the Mahakumbh area in Prayagraj would be a no-vehicle and no VIP zone from 27th to 30th January.

In this regard, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Vaibhav Krishna had said, “No vehicle movement will be allowed in the Kumbh area from January 27 to January 30. Also, no VIP protocol will be followed on these days.”

While the exact reason behind the deadly stampede will only be discovered in the findings of the judicial inquiry when the stampede happened there were No VIPs present and no VIP movement was scheduled. The unfortunate incident unfolded due to the overwhelming crowd size and desperation of the devotees to bathe at the auspicious muhurat rather than due to the administration’s supposed ‘special focus’ on VIPs. This, however, does not absolve the authorities of their responsibility for the tragedy that claimed around 30 innocent lives.

The Congress party, Samajwadi Party and the anti-BJP ecosystem’s swift pivot to blame the stampede on the administration’s supposed unwarranted focus on VIP visitors despite the stampede’s occurrence at a time when there was no VIP activity, comes across as an opprobrious tactic of exploiting tragedies for political gains. This political opportunism, however, adds to the panic caused by the tragedy rather than serving any genuine purpose of helping those affected.

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Shraddha Pandey
Shraddha Pandey

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