In one of the most horrific pilgrim disasters of the past decade, 102 devotees were killed and 50 injured in a stampede at Pullumedu near the famous Sabarimala hill shrine, raising questions about inadequate infrastructure and poor police deployment.
As the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage season ended on a gloomy note, Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan announced a judicial inquiry into last night’s tragedy and declared a solatium of Rs five lakh each for families of those killed.
Lack of basic amenities like lighting, water supply and camping facilities, coupled with insufficient police deployment were blamed for the tragedy that struck home-bound pilgrims.
The presence of a large number of mini-vehicles like jeeps and autorickshaws, plying without permission or control through the trekking route, part of the Periyar tiger reserve, also proved fatal, according to forest department sources.
Though the Pullumedu route has been used by pilgrims from Tamil Nadu for long, the area had never been sufficiently covered by the security and crowd management plans.
On the days of heavy rush, the entire focus of forces, including police and National Disaster Response Force, tended to be shifted to the Sannidhanam-Pampa route, through which over 90 per cent of pilgrims pass.
The victims included a Sri Lankan woman, identified as Sha Kantha, member of an 18-member group from the island nation. Most of the dead were from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and used the grassland forest trekking path known as ‘Pulumedu’ in Periyar tiger reserve in Idukki district.
The preliminary report of the district administration said the stampede was caused by a commotion created by a minor mishap involving a jeep and an autorikshaw which grazed each other while plying along the narrow route.
Poor lighting, coupled with dense fog made matters worse as people, overwhelmed by panic, ran helter skelter and were trampled upon by one another.
Pilgrims had gathered at the spot to sight Makaravillakku (celestial light) on the eastern horizon, which marks the culmination of the two-month long Sabarimala pilgrimage.
Police said they did not receive complaints of any missing persons. All bodies had been shifted to a hospital at Kumali for post mortem and were being transported to their respective home towns, they said.
