India Pledges to Improve Site of Temple Stampede

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BOMBAY (Reuters) - India's government has pledged money to improve

safety at the site of a stampede and fire at a Hindu temple in

western India that killed more than 250 people on an annual

pilgrimage.

 

The government had set aside 150 million rupees ($3.4 million) to

make the temple safer for the hundreds of thousands of devotees who

visit the hilltop to make offerings to goddess, Kalubai, media

reported on Thursday.

 

"I have talked to the prime minister and he has agreed to provide

funds for making the temple safe for devotees," Agriculture Minister

Sharad Pawar told the Press Trust of India news agency.

 

The money would be spent on improving facilities and infrastructure

at the Mandher Devi temple near Wai, 160 miles southeast of Bombay

in the western state of Maharashtra, said Pawar, whose constituency

is in Maharashtra.

 

The stampede broke out on Tuesday when about 300,000 people

converged on the temple. Witnesses said the stampede started when

pilgrims slipped on the temple's steep stone steps, which were wet

with coconut water spilled from fruit offerings.

 

Scores were crushed to death on the narrow path to the temple, on a

craggy hilltop about 4,000 ft above sea-level.

 

The commotion then spread to the bottom of the hill, where some

people attacked stalls selling flowers and food. Fire then swept

through the shops after cooking gas cylinders exploded, possibly

sparked by an overhead power cable, officials said.

 

Of the 258 who died, more than 200 had been identified, according to

Subrao Patil, the top district official. More than half those killed

were women and at least 14 were children.

 

Newspapers said the fire may have been started by rioters.

 

An official inquiry would help determine the exact sequence of

events, police said.

 

The 300-year-old Mandher Devi temple is popular among lower caste

Hindus who undertake the pilgrimage every January on a full-moon day

and participate in a 24-hour-long festival that includes animal

sacrifices to the goddess.

 

The state canceled celebrations for India's Republic Day on

Wednesday and its chief minister, after visiting the temple,

announced compensation of 100,000 rupees ($2,300) for the dead and a

minimum 10,000 rupees ($230) for the injured.

 

In 2003, more than 30 people were killed died in a stampede in

Nasik, also in Maharashtra, during the Kumbh Mela, or Grand Pitcher,

religious festival. ($1=43.78 Indian Rupee)

 

SOURCE: © Reuters 2005. .

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