Nearly 27,000 pilgrims offered prayers at the Mata Vaishno Devi cave shrine on Saturday, following the stampede incident that killed 12 people and injured several others. According to a statement by an official spokesperson, the yatra is now going on smoothly and the stampede situation was brought under control by the authorities.
After the stampede, the rescue operation was launched promptly by a joint team of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board, the district administration, police and the CRPF, the government spokesman said in a statement, adding "the situation was brought under control within a span of five minutes".
"The yatra is continuing smoothly, with approximately 27,000 pilgrims having done darshan at the holy shrine today (Saturday)," the spokesman said.
He said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who is also the chairperson of the shrine board, has been personally monitoring the whole situation since early morning and also visited the Super-Specialty Hospital, Kakryal, and enquired about the health of the injured pilgrims and interacted with them.
He also directed the officials to ensure that the ex gratia amount of Rs 10 lakhs for the deceased and Rs 2 lakhs for the injured, already announced by the government, should be released in favour of the legal heirs on priority in a hassle-free manner, the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the members of the inquiry committee constituted to probe the incident visited the site of the occurrence at Bhawan and took a first-hand account.
The officers interacted with the Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB, Deputy Commissioner Reasi, SP Katra, Commanding Officer CRPF, Sub-Divisional Magistrate Bhawan and other officials and also scrutinized the video footage, the spokesman said.
He said the committee mentioned that further details are being sought after which any conclusive findings can be drawn.
However, prima facie it appears that some kind of minor scuffle between a few pilgrims may have led to the stampede near Gate no.3, where the pathway has a steep gradient, the spokesman said.
He said the ADGP and Divisional Commissioner lauded the efforts of the field teams of Shrine Board, district administration, Police and CRPF, who were manning the Bhawan area, for their prompt action and bringing the situation immediately under control, thereby averting any further loss.
Vaishno Devi stampede: Probe panel to submit report within week
Meanwhile, the three-member panel set up by Jammu and Kashmir government to probe the stampede incident at Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine has been asked to give its report within a week.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday ordered a high-level probe headed by Principal Secretary (Home) to investigate the incident. The probe team includes the Additional Director General of Police (Jammu) and Divisional Commissioner of Jammu.
"The committee shall submit its report within a week's time to the Government. The committee shall examine in detail the causes/reasons behind the incident and point out the lapses and fix the responsibility thereof," the official order said.
The committee has also been asked to suggest appropriate standard operating procedures and measures for preventing the recurrence of such incidents in the future.
(With inputs from agencies)
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