Daijiworld Media Network- Panaji

Panaji, May 14: A fact-finding committee appointed by the Goa government to investigate the tragic stampede at Sri Lairai Devi temple in Shirgao village on May 3 has concluded that the incident was "entirely preventable." The stampede, which occurred during the temple’s annual festival, resulted in the loss of six lives and left around 100 people injured.

According to the committee's report, a combination of poor planning, lack of enforcement, ignored directives, and inadequate infrastructure contributed to the fatal tragedy. The committee, led by revenue secretary Sandip Jacques, gathered testimony from eyewitnesses, victims, police officials, and the temple organisers to investigate the root causes of the disaster.

The immediate cause of the stampede was overcrowding on a sloping pathway between the sacred pond ('tali') and the ritual fire area ('homkhand'). This overcrowding was worsened by the unruly behaviour of some devotees, known as 'dhonds,' who attempted to push through the crowd, further destabilizing the situation. The lack of proper crowd control measures played a significant role in exacerbating the conditions, the report stated.

As per the findings, devotees were allowed to enter the pathway in groups, leading to a bottleneck at the upper end of the slope near the RBL bank branch. This overcrowding resulted in instability when a woman fell face-first, triggering a chain reaction that led to several people losing their balance and toppling over one another. However, those further back in the crowd, unaware of the fall, continued pushing forward, causing a deadly stampede.

The committee also discovered that similar incidents had allegedly occurred in the past. While some victims claimed a previous incident had resulted in a woman's death due to suffocation in the same area, the committee found no records to substantiate this claim. Nonetheless, the report stressed that the organisers, district administration, and district police should have reviewed past incidents and implemented preventive measures.

In response to the tragedy, the Goa government took swift action by transferring the district magistrate and district superintendent of police. The committee has recommended that more stringent measures be put in place in future temple events to ensure the safety and well-being of devotees