Sabarimala Tragedy: Kerala Government Faces Heat

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VANDIPERIYAR, INDIA (GaeaTimes.com)- On Friday, nearly 102 people died and more than 50 people were injured at an unfortunate stampede near the hill shrine of Sabarimala. Nearly three lakhs of pilgrims gathered at the holy shrine to watch ‘Makarajyothi’ (the divine light) and the mishap happened while they were returning from the place. The accident took place when a car overturned at Pulumedu in Pathanamthitta district, 5 miles away from Sabarimala shrine.

On Sunday, Karnataka Law Minister Suresh Kumar gave an interview to a reputed media outlet where he has blamed Kerala government for their negligence and said that the officials somehow took the arrangements for “granted”. Reportedly, the Sabarimala pilgrims also demanded more security but the government remained mum about the matter. Moreover, local media reported that their were only three police officials in charge of lakhs of pilgrims! On the other hand, the law minister of Karnataka said that Uttarkhand has recently witnessed “Kumbh mela” where near about one crore people came to take bath in Haridwar but the security was “excellent”.

VS Achuthanandan, the Chief Minister of Kerala has asked for a judicial inquiry and declared that the victims’ families will be paid Rs five lakhs each. The local media outlets reported that there were lack of water supply, lighting etc. and it clearly shows that the Kerala government did not take the matter seriously. The Governor of Karnataka, H R Bhardwaj expressed his condolences at the unfortunate demise of so many Sabarimala pilgrims. Defence Minister A.K. Antony said that Sabarimala stampede is one of the worst tragedies that India has witnessed. The CBI officials visited the scene on Sunday morning to find out the cause of the stampede.