Lessons from a tragedy

On January 25, 2005, an estimated 2.80 lakh people gathered along the narrow path leading to the temple located on a steep hill at 1,200 meters altitude. A fire broke out at a tea stall on top of the hill and triggered the stampede. As people rushed to descend, many slipped over the blackstone foot-steps made greasy by coconut water, blood of sacrificed goat and oil offerings, and got crushed.

The tragedy shook up the temple management and district administration. The first thing they did was to remove shops and tea stalls enroute the temple. They separated the entry and exit routes and cemented the foot-steps making it safer to climb. A separate lane has been created to provide emergency help.

The authorities have put in place strict measures to ensure that coconut water and oil do not spill over to the foot-steps. Sacrifice of animals has been banned in the temple complex.
The Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) has launched a Rs 12 crore development plan at the site to create dedicated parking slots. No vehicle is now allowed on the main pathways approaching the temple.

The State Government is also working to create a Disaster Management
Plan to prevent Mandhardevi-type incidents. As a first step, all temples across the state are being graded on basis of safety risks to devotees during yatras. There are around 53,000 temple trusts registered with the Charity Commissioner.

The State authorities are collecting information on the number of devotees, infrastructure, financial resources and rescue measures in place. After they get the data, the authorities say they will prepare a disaster management plan for major temples of the State.