Dhumal seeks report on Naina Devi stampede

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Monday convened a meeting of officials and reviewed the arrangements in the Naina Devi shrine to regulate the rush of devotees. The meeting comes in the wake of the stampede at the shrine on Sunday that claimed the lives of 146 people. Mr. Dhumal said the Divisional Commissioner had been asked to submit a report on the tragedy within two weeks. A committee, consisting of top officials, had been entrusted with the task of formulating appropriate guidelines for adoption by the temple authorities to cope up with any emergent situation caused due to heavy rush during peak season.The government would study the pattern followed by the Jammu and Kashmir government in regulating the devotees in the Vaishno Devi temple and incorporate suggestions from various quarters and the report of the Divisional Commissioner. Mr. Dhumal said that of those who perished, 23 were from Haryana, seven from the Una district of Himachal and the rest from Punjab. Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal visited the shrine and announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 1 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased. Despite the tragedy, people thronged the shrine on Monday and there was vast improvement in the arrangements. There was an improved public address system, more police regulating the devotees from the base.

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