PANAJI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came under fire from the Opposition parties for ‘administrative lapses’ in the arrangements for the Devi Lairai jatra where a stampede claimed six lives and left dozens injured, some critically, even as they demanded a high level probe into the incident.
Opposition Leader Yuri Alemao accompanied by the other two Congress MLAs -- Carlos Alvares-Ferreira and Altone D’Costa -- visited Shirgao where they met the temple committee.
Alemao said the administration did not install any CCTV cameras and relied only on those put up by the Devasthan Committee. He also said that the police should have conducted a recce a day prior and the first day of the zatra should be reserved only for the ‘dhonds’ while rest of the devotees can participate in the remaining four days.
The Aam Aadmi Party also expressed shock at the demise of devotees in the stampede with its State president, Amit Palekar and other leaders condoling the bereaved families while demanding interim relief of at least Rs 1 crore to them and Rs 10 lakh to those injured.
“All reports from eyewitnesses point to a complete breakdown in crowd management by the authorities,” Palekar said.
AAP’s Mayem leader Rajesh Kalangutkar, who himself lost two relatives in the incident, said apart from the deaths many suffered serious injuries and no medical assistance was available. “The injured were taken in private cars while the government only did media management instead of actual crowd management,” Kalangutkar said.
Goa Forward Party’s Vijai Sardesai held the administration responsible and demanded to know how such an incident occurred when the government had claimed that over one thousand policemen were being deployed there. He too demanded an ex-gratia of Rs 1 crore to families of the deceased.
