The Maha kumbh devotees are still reeling from the stampede and deaths at the Sangam ghat, as Mauni Amasvaya began with an ominous start. As the official death toll rises, the joy of the Maha Kumbh dampens. If one believes the videos and testimonies of the survivors and victims’ families, we find that government’s official death count is not only conservative, but also the Modi government hasn’t been transparent with us either on the number of dead devotees nor on the number of stampedes. So has India been lied to once again?
Some reports from the ground suggest that over 1,500 are still missing, while citizens near the Maha Kumbh car parking zones are identifying allegedly abandoned cars with missing owners.
Media reports and eye witness accounts point to other stampedes in Jhusi sectors, Shastri bridge area. In fact, minor stampedes have been happening since the day of the Mauni Amavasya on January 29. And eye witnesses tell us that dead bodies were still being recovered from the Sangam ghat until a few days ago.
Also Read: Kumbh Diary: Silence after a Stampede
And if one takes a bath at the Sangam ghat today, they will find themselves walking over other people’s clothes. It’s quite an eerie feeling, knowing that this was the sight of the stampede. Also when we see the trash dumps, we find countless bags, clothes, identity cards, etc. right next to the Sangam ghat.
A few religious leaders have also pointed to at least “six stampedes”, and the “death toll of 30” being only an “official number”. All these unverified claims, are still unanswered by the government and hence seed doubt in the public.
Adding more fuel to the fire is another media report pointing to ATS-STF under the chief minister Yogi Adityanath is also investigating the role of unidentified people who were spotted on AI cameras as starting the stampede purposely. Currently, 100 mobile phones are under surveillance.
A judicial inquiry has also been initiated and the three member committee is also engaged in a fact finding mission. They have already seen the CCTV footage and asking some important questions. One is sure they are asking the same questions the public is – Why were the 30 pontoon bridges not open when the police was expecting 10 crore people? On whose order were they closed? Was the stampede engineered?
The pontoon bridge fiasco
While the committee may be deliberating on the facts, it seems that public have already made up their mind. I have interviewed over a hundred people from Sangam ghat towards Jhusi and Shastri bridge. Various survivors have said in unison that the closing of all pontoon bridges during the important Snan days have caused the stampede.
After analysing many testimonies, it is clear that it was the police mismanagement that led to stampede incidents all around the Kumbh. In most cases, all the traffic or hordes of people were pushed into singular passage ways. Thereafter both incoming and outgoing people were goaded towards one road. In the one case of Shastri bridge area stampede, even vehicular traffic (bikes) were told to go on the same lane as the pedestrians.
Even if one looks at designs and access plans for the 2013 Kumbh as published in book “Kumbh Mela, mapping the ephemeral Megacity” by Daina Eck, Tarun Khanna, Jennifer Leaning and John Macomber, it clearly shows that all east 4 access pontoon bridges were open in 2013 even on main days. So when the 2025 event was twice as big, why was only one pontoon bridge open to the public to cross the Ganga?
Moreover, thousands of people, some VIPs were granted passageway through the roads as well. Naturally, if a car with armed police escorts enters a heavily crowded pedestrian road, its will cause panic in the people walking. The police also made devotees walk for miles and miles for no reason. In many places devotees were standing for over 6 hours, fighting for their lives in a wave of people.
So, VIP culture and closing of the pontoon bridges are turning out to be the key reasons why the stampede happened. Now the only way the Yogi government can save is face is by releasing the CCTV footage from all the ghats. Let the people know what happened, otherwise the stealthy, behind the scenes workings will increase public anger and faithful devotees will feel disrespected.
