Oppn MLA sought details on revised operating procedures to manage large religious gatherings
PANAJI
The Goa government on Tuesday informed the Legislative Assembly that the police department is in the process of drafting a fresh Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for crowd management, following the stampede at the Shirgao Zatra in May that claimed six lives and left over 100 injured.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, responding to a question tabled by Goa Forward MLA Vijai Sardesai, indicated the government is working on procedural reforms to prevent such incidents in the future. “The Police Department is in the process of framing a new SOP for Crowd Management,” he said in his written reply.
Sardesai had sought details on whether the Goa Police had revised its operating procedures to manage large religious gatherings after the May stampede. He also asked whether any assessment or study had been undertaken regarding carrying capacity and crowd flow, particularly since the government is promoting temple festivals as part of its spiritual tourism initiative.
To this, the CM stated that an adequate number of police personnel are deployed for the smooth functioning of such events/zatra and to avoid untoward incidents and law and order problems.
Earlier, after the incident, Sawant had termed the Shirgao stampede an “eye-opener” for Goa and said it highlighted the urgent need for a more structured and scientific approach to managing large-scale religious events. He had then announced that the government would identify all zatras with massive footfalls and implement SOPs, along with appointing nodal officers for each such event.
The fact-finding report pinned collective responsibility on multiple stakeholders, including the temple committee, district administration, police, village panchayat, and the behaviour of the crowd, particularly ‘dhonds’ responsible for the incident.
Following a preliminary inquiry, the government had issued show-cause notices to eight officials, including the then North Goa District Magistrate, North Goa Superintendent of Police, Deputy Collector of Bicholim, DySP of Bicholim, and PIs of Bicholim and Mopa police stations, besides the Shirgao Panchayat Secretary. All government officials were on duty during the incident and have since been transferred.
