Uttarakhand stampede: Closure of route 30 mins before stampede prevented bigger tragedy, says Officer

Haridwar: If the staircase route leading to the Mansa Devi temple was not closed half an hour before the stampede on Sunday, the scale of the tragedy would have been even bigger, a police official said.

Devotees who were already on the staircase route to the popular hilltop temple in Haridwar before the route could be shut, however, encountered a stampede that killed six people and left 28 injured, after a rumour of an electric current leak triggered panic.

"In view of the heavy crowd, people were stopped from going on the staircase route half an hour before the incident in the morning. If the staircase route had not been closed, the tragedy could have been bigger," Haridwar Kotwali in-charge Ritesh Shah said.

Search operation continued to find any victims hidden among the bushes and a ditch along the route where the stampede occurred. The roads and bushes on the surrounding hills were being scoured by the SDRF personnel as a precautionary measure, he said.

The administration fears that some people might have fallen into the ditch and could be hidden by the bushes after the stampede.

The road leading to the temple has been closed for the time being. The temple, which was closed following the stampede reopened at 4 pm, Shah said.

The road where the stampede occurred is the oldest route to the temple meant for pedestrians. One has to climb about 700 steps to reach the temple that sits at a height of more than 500 feet.

After the stampede, a rescue operation was carried out and after all the injured and the dead were taken to the hospital, and the road towards the hill was covered with tarpaulins, the official said.

Only one-way traffic is allowed on the road, which comes under Raja Ji National Park, when the crowd increases, said the park's warden, Ajay Kumar. He said the rush of devotees suddenly increased on Sunday causing the stampede.

Survivors and locals blamed excess crowd and the narrow passage for the stampede.

Locals also said huge crowd should have been expected in the month of Sawan on a Sunday and if the administration had been more cautious, the tragedy could have been avoided.

A magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident. The Haridwar ADM will conduct the probe and submit his report within 15 days with recommendations on how to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future, Haridwar District Magistrate Mayur Dikshit said.

The real cause of the stampede will be known only after the probe report comes, officials said.