Police blamed for inept crowd management

By Radhakrishnan Kuttoor

PATHANAMTHITTA, DEC. 26. The flaws in the police arrangements at Sabarimala, coupled with the ``callous and indifferent'' attitude of a few police personnel deployed along the Marakkoottom- Saramkuthi stretch of the trekking path, reportedly resulted in a stampede-like situation at the holy hillock on Monday morning, which claimed one life and injured more than 150 pilgrims.

However, it is unfortunate that the negligence on the part of some policemen and the Travancore Devaswom Board's failure in streamlining the crowd management arrangements at key points have cast a blot on the yeoman service rendered by a majority of the police force deployed at the Sabarimala Ayyappa Sannidhanam during the two-month annual pilgrim season.

The stampede in January 1998 at the Pampa hilltop in Sabarimala that claimed the lives of 53 persons does not appear to have made a long- standing impact on the official machinery of both the State Government and the devaswom board in taking effective fool- proof measures to avert such mishaps. At least, this is what the Monday morning incident seems to indicate.

According to highly placed official sources at Sabarimala, it was the lack of co-ordination between the top civil and police officials that ultimately led to the mishap which could have resulted in heavier casualties than the 1998 tragedy.

The fact that only one person lost her life in the stampede-like incident is nothing short of a miracle.

There were allegations that a group of pilgrims who tried to squeeze through the barricades and cut across the forest areas to reach the Chandranandan Road were brutally handled by the police personnel. The incident created a panic and the iron barricades collapsed, uprooting the iron railings fixed in concrete. The ensuing confusion and panic led to a stampede-like situation.

Many injured pilgrims have reportedly stated before the Special Commissioner appointed by the Kerala High Court, Mr. D. Sreevallabhan that they were beaten up by a few police personnel posted along the Saramkuthi trekking path and this brutal treatment continued till an agitated pilgrim turned against the policemen.

According to a senior police official at the Sannidhanam, a Sub- Inspector who was on duty along the 700-metre stretch of the Saramkuthi trekking path went on leave on Christmas eve. The inadequate police strength along the trouble-prone areas of the trekking path too is said to be a contributory cause to the mishap.

There were allegations that many of the policemen on duty along the trekking path had left for breakfast even before the expiry of their duty time at 9 a.m. on Monday and the remaining few policemen there were forced to adopt intimidatory tactics to control the flow of pilgrims, some of whom tried to jump the jam- packed serpentine queue around 8-30 a.m.

It is equally strange that the Commandant of the KAP IVth Battallion, Mr. T. V. Kunjikkannan, who has little experience in crowd management at Sabarimala, was posted as the Special Officer at the Sannidhanam during the peak days of the Mandalam season, disregarding his health problems.

However, it is noteworthy that the Chief Police Coordinator, Mr. M.G.A. Raman, was camping at the Sannidhanam for the last three days to monitor the police arrangements during the last lap of the Mandalam season.

Mr. Kunjikkannan said that 10 policemen were being deployed along the 700-metre stretch of the trekking path where the mishap occurred. He said that Monday's accident was ``because of the collapse of the shaky and fragile barricades'' on account of the heavy crowd.

He alleged that the devaswom board had adopted an indifferent attitude towards the Joint Police Coordinator, Mr. Rajesh Diwan's request on December 9 to strengthen the railings along the trekking path.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Party spokesman rapped on knuckles
Next     : Red carpet welcome for PM at Kochi