Kumbh Mela tragedy....Have some us lost humanity?¹

 Hi folks,

           Wish you all rest of peaceful and happy 2025 ahead. My last blog post was in November 2024, 'The death of a yoga 🧘‍♂️ guru.' After that, I seemed to have drifted away from my favorite space hoping to come back and write about something that I hoped to end 2024 on a high note, but did not happen so. I will get to that in the next post. This one was lying as a draft which I intended to write during Kumbh mela mahotsav. Now, maha Kumbh mela is 2 months behind and is almost forgotten. 

                 Anyways, I will continue and finish this post before moving forward with the next one. Maha Kumbh mela saw crores of crowds not wanting to miss the holy dip which was advertised as not to 

 be missed in ones  lifetime. This kind of publicity drew much more larger crowds than the usual Kumbh mela  that occurs once in 12 years . The pavithra snan or holy bath taken during the mauni ammavasya day that occurs during once in 144 years was considered extra special.  The crores of crowds on that day put unusual strain on the infrastructure and the arrangements in Prayagraj. Because VIP areas are cordoned from general public, people crushed on one side resulting in sudden stampedes killing some devotees ( exact numbers not known) and injuring many. This exposes the failure and lapses on the part of the authorities to prioritize safety of tourists who came there. 

            This does not mean that stampede have not happened in the past. Irrespective of any party at the centre,  if any tragedy happens, they need to take accountability and address lapses and take adequate measures to prevent unfortunate events in future.  Some governments do, some don't. The Times of India newspaper went on to defend saying that compared to chores of people who come there, the 'small number of deaths' are nothing. Alzheimers disease consume much more lives in the long run!! What a weird logic!! There was stampede in Delhi railway station also during that time resulting in some casualties and injuries which is forgotten now. 

           There are lot of issues that need to be taken care of during any mega event so that unfortunate events do not happen and common people have memorable experience,  but as public memory is short, those critical issues that require more attention are easily forgotten until the next tragedy that may strike during the same event years later.

Deepa.