India’s mass Hindu pilgrimage, the Kumbh Mela, officially starts in Maharashtra state Tuesday, with organisers desperate to avoid a repeat of a deadly stampede at the same venue 12 years ago.
Thirty-nine pilgrims were trampled to death and dozens injured when the religious festival was last held on the banks of the Godavari river in the city of Nashik, around 160 kilometres northeast of Mumbai, in 2003.
“We have learnt lessons from that stampede and have changed the route for the ‘Shahi Snan’ (main dip) to avoid tight alleys and steep slopes to the bathing ghats (steps leading to the river),” Nashik district information officer K Moghe said.
“We have also widened the bathing ghats in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar to provide more space and avoid over-crowding. That should prevent the major triggers for a stampede,” he added.
The deadly crush at Nashik was believed to have been triggered when a sadhu, or holy man, threw coins into a crowd of pilgrims who were waiting on the river banks.
Tens of thousands of the devotees, forced to stand behind barricades, were reportedly getting increasingly restless while having to wait for their holy dip.