Stampede At Ganga Sagar Mela Kills Seven
By Arnab, Gaea News NetworkThursday, January 14, 2010
West Bengal, India (GaeaTimes.com)- In a recent development that has exposed the lack of professionalism and absence of festival management facilities in West Bengal, seven pilgrims have lost their lives and 17 more injured in a stampede that broke out at Ganga Sagar Mela. The yearly festival takes place on the auspicious date of Makar Sankranti. As per the reports this year, almost 4 lakh pilgrims have gathered at the place located closer to the Bay of Bengal. The dead includes a baby and 6 aged women. The news Stampede at Ganga Sagar Mela kills seven proves that the administration is not yet ready to make suitable arrangements for handling large crowd gathering at festivals.
Among the injured lot, four are said to be in critical condition. The incident of stampede at Ganga Sagar Mela kills seven but the number of casualties may go up if the critically injured ones fail to survive the trauma. According to the sources, the stampede broke out when a staircase near a river jetty collapsed as the pilgrims were going to board a vessel to reach Ganga Sagar islands. The muriganga river needs to be crossed before one can reach the islands.
Khalil Ahmed, the DM of South 24 Pargana said that the bamboo barricade could not survive the pressure of the crowd and it broke down leading to the stampede. The pilgrims cared little for instructions given to them. After the incident, launch services from that jetty was closed for some time. The Stampede at Ganga Sagar Mela kills seven but if adequate arrangements are not made similar incidents can claim more lives in future.
