Multiple social media users shared a photo of a partially tilted building, claiming that it showed the after-effects of the recent earthquake that struck Delhi-NCR
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday came down hard on the centre and Indian Railways over the stampede last week at the New Delhi Railway Station, in which 18 people were killed.
A division bench of Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela demanded to know why the Railways had continued to sell tickets in excess of the number of passengers who could be accommodated in a couch. A furious court sought replies from the centre and the Railways.
The court was hearing a PIL on safety measures to prevent such tragic incidents, and to enforce a section of the Railways Act that limits passengers per coach and prescribes a six-month jail term to those who flout the rule. The rule in question is Section 147, which also prescribes a Rs 1,000 fine.
“Show what steps you will take to implement existing laws that limit number of passengers in coaches and penalise persons entering without authority,” the court raged, “From a perusal of the relevant sections (of the Railways Act)… every railway administration is under a statutory mandate to fix a certain number of passengers… and this number shall be exhibited conspicuously outside coach.”
READ | Colour-Codes, War Rooms: Crowd-Control SOP After Delhi Stampede
“If you implement a simple thing in a positive manner… in letter and spirit… this situation (the stampede at the Delhi railway station) could have been avoided,” the Chief Justice said.
The court acknowledged that on “rush days” the Railways could, within reason, accommodate more than the permitted limit, but that otherwise enforcing the maximum seating capacity “seems to have been neglected”. “Why did number of tickets sold exceed number of berths? That is a problem.”
READ | “Nail Pierced Her Head”: Man Who Lost Daughter, 7, In Delhi Stampede
Under heavy fire, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Railways, accepted the court’s directions and said the Railway Board would look into all aspects of this situation.
The court then fixed March 26 as the next date of hearing.
Eleven women and five children were among the 18 crushed in the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station, or NDLS, last week. The crush was caused by several factors, but the most critical was the fact station authorities continued to sell tickets – around 3,000 over two hours, sources had told NDTV.
READ | 2 Hours, 4 Trains, Mega Crowd: Sources On Delhi Stampede Cause
More were bought online, the sources said, citing a preliminary report by the Railway Police Force.
The situation reportedly reached critical mass after 10 pm, after the Shiv Ganga and Magadh express services, both of which run through Prayagraj, where the Maha Kumbh is being held, departed.
Thousands were still left on platforms 14 and 15 after these trains left, and that’s when there was word of a special train to Prayagraj from platform 16. The stampede happened in the rush that followed.
However, reports of that last-minute platform change causing the stampede were denied by the Railway Ministry as “wrong and misleading”. The ministry also aid the RPF had not conducted an inquiry, and that it was a high-level committee set up by Northern Railway is leading this investigation.
READ | “Misleading”: Ministry On Reports Of Delhi Railway Station Stampede Probe
The Delhi stampede followed a worse tragedy at Prayagraj, in which 30 people were killed, and which have led to furious attacks by the opposition on the BJP, which is in power at the centre and in UP.
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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday hit back at his Bengal counterpart, Mamata Banerjee, over her comments last evening about the death of 30 people in last month’s Maha Kumbh stampede. Ms Banerjee slammed Maha Kumbh, calling it a ‘Mrityu‘ (‘death’) Kumbh.
Speaking in the UP Assembly a furious Chief Minister slammed Ms Banerjee, declaring that over 56 crore people had taken a ‘holy dip’ in the ‘sangam‘ since the Kumbh began and accusing her of making “baseless allegations… that are like playing with the faith of these 56 crore people”.
Adityanath also offered his condolences to the families of the 30 people who were killed in the January 29 stampede, and others who died in road accidents while travelling to Prayagraj for the religious gathering. “… the government stands with them. We will help them in every possible way.”
“But how is it appropriate to politicise this?” the Chief Minister said, as he also claimed “good fortune” in the state’s BJP government’s “opportunity to associate with the Maha Kumbh of this century”.
“The country and world have participated… ignoring all the false campaigns,” he said.
#WATCH | Lucknow: In the UP assembly, CM Yogi Adityanath says, “While we are participating in the discussion here, at that time more than 56.25 crore devotees have already taken their holy dip in Prayagraj… When we make any baseless allegations or snow fake videos against… pic.twitter.com/VYNnzPn4w1
— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2025
Yogi Adityanath wasn’t the only senior BJP figure to snap back at Ms Banerjee.
Bihar BJP chief Dilip Jaiswal accused Ms Banerjee of practicing “appeasement politics” and said, “As I have said earlier… they are atheists. They give only shameful statements.”
But Ms Banerjee received backing from an unexpected quarter – Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati, the 46th Shankaracharya of the Jyotish Peeth in Uttarakhand.
READ | After Mamata, Seer Criticises Kumbh Organisers For “Bad Planning”
Even when people died… they tried to hide it, which was a grave crime. In such a situation, if someone calls it names, then we won’t be able to oppose it…” Swami Avimukteshwaranand Saraswati said.
The BJP leaders were responding to a sharp attack by Mamata Banerjee in the Bengal Assembly, in which she criticised the BJP for failing, even now, to recover all 30 bodies.
“This is the ‘Mrityu‘ (death) Kumbh… I respect the Maha Kumbh, and I respect Ganga maa… but there is no planning. How many people’s bodies have been recovered?” she asked.
READ | “This Is ‘Mrityu’ Kumbh…”: Mamata’s Scathing Attack On Stampede
“For the rich, the VIPs… there are systems available to get tents after paying as much as Rs 1 lakh. But for the poor, there are no arrangements made. A stampede can happen in large public gatherings, yes. But it is important to make arrangements. What planning did you make?” she asked.
The steady ramping up of attacks between Mamata Banerjee and the BJP (they recently also went head-to-head over the rape-murder of a doctor at Kolkata’s RG Kar Hospital) come ahead of an Assembly election in Bengal next year. Ms Banerjee has beaten the BJP in two consecutive state and federal polls, a string of defeats that have left the saffron party fuming and bent on revenge.
Thirty people, over half of whom were women and children, were killed in the stampede on January 29.
VIDEO | Moments That Led To Maha Kumbh Stampede Caught On Cam
Since then, the opposition, led by Akhilesh Yadav, has been relentlessly in demanding a list of those who died and accountability. Last week Mr Yadav launched another fierce attack.
“… devotees going to the Kumbh were stuck in a 300km-long traffic jam. Is this ‘Viksit Bharat’? In which the government cannot even manage traffic? What is the point of going to the Moon when we cannot settle issues on Earth,” he asked in Parliament.
READ | “Point Of Going To The Moon?” Akhilesh Yadav’s Maha Kumbh Jab
The opposition has also accused the UP government of disregarding the needs of the crores of devotees to cater for VIP and VVIP visits, including those by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last week.
The UP government and the BJP, meanwhile, have hailed the relatively successful hosting of what is widely regarded as the world’s largest religious gathering.
With input from agencies
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