Click to play videoThiruvananthapuram: Kerala High Court on Monday came down heavily on Kerala government its various departments, saying that lack of coordination among them caused the tragic stampede in Idukki district which resulted in the death of over 100 pilgrims and injuries to 50 others.
The court ordered for an immediate report on the cause of the stampede, and asked Kerala Police, Travancore Devaswom Board that runs the Sabarimala temple and the Forest Department to file a reply.
"We want to know what happened. Explain how the mishap occurred," a two-judge Division bench comprising Justice Thottathil Radhakrishnan and PS Gopinathan said.
The judges also wanted to to know the steps taken by the government to provide help to the injured and also to those stranded in the area after the accident.
There were around 3 lakh pilgrims at Pullumedu and to take care of them there were just a few policemen and a couple of doctors. The place where the stampede took placer doesn't even have proper roads or communication facilities.
In fact, the forest department had warned crowd management would be tough but the state government reportedly ignored it.
A similar tragedy had killed 52 people at Pampa in 1999. A judicial panel was set up then. It had recommended the development of the Pullumedu route, the place were the stampede occurred, but nothing has been done till now.
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