Indus Valley Times

By Ajaya Das

Cuttack, Jan. 14: One person was killed and 20 others suffered critical injuries in a stampede during a Makar Sankranti celebration on the Gopinathpur-Badamba Bridge over the Mahanadi river at Athagarh in Odisha’s Cuttack district.

Local Badamba MLA Debi Prasad Mishra confirmed that a woman died in the stampede, while 20 others were injured.

The deceased woman was identified as a resident of Pathuripada village in Banki. 

“On the occasion of Makar Sankranti, there was a huge rush on the bridge which connects Singhanath shrine located in the middle of the Mahanadi river. It was when the devotees were negotiating along the bridge that suddenly a stampede took place. The seriously injured have been rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital,” said Athagarh Sub Collector Hemanta Kumar Swain.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and free treatment for the injured ones.

Reports said as ambulances couldn’t reach the spot because of the rush on the bridge, the injured persons were shifted to Badamba hospital on motorcycles.

As per reports coming in from Badamba hospital, some people were still lying on hospital beds unconscious and some others were kept on ventilator support.

The 3.4 km-long-bridge was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on December 20, 2021. To reach the shrine, there is a fair-weather road as well. It is said that all the devotees took the bridge today to reach the shrine as it being the shortest route.

Though it was expected that a huge number of devotees would turn up for the shrine, the local administration totally failed in figuring out the danger lurking on the bridge due to the heavy rush. It is said that they had not expected such a huge rush of devotees at the shrine for which they treated it as a common fair.

“Had the administration taken steps to limit the crowd on the bridge and asked some, particularly young men and women to use the beaten path, the mishap could have been avoided,” alleged the local residents.

Regarding crowd control, Cuttack Rural Additional SP Ranjit Prusty said, “The number of devotees turned up at the shrine was beyond all expectations. However, to control the crowd on the bridge, we have deployed three platoons of police force. The Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Athagarh along with his officials is presently controlling the crowd.”