Why did number of tickets sold exceed the maximum number, the Supreme Court asked Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta on Tuesday in the wake of stampede at New Delhi railway station that killed at least 18 people. The passengers were travelling to Prayagraj to attend the Maha Kumbh mela.
The matter is being heard by a SC bench headed by Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela. SG Mehta admitted that the incident is unfortunate, and “compensation cannot meet the loss of lives".
Soon after the stampede on February 15, which claimed 18 lives, the Railway Ministry appointed a two-member committee of high administrative grade officers from the commercial and safety department of the Northern Railway to conduct an inquiry.
A section of senior railway ministry officials have said the passengers got confused between ‘Prayagraj Express’ and ‘Prayagraj Special’ after an announcement, and rushed to change their platform, leading to a huge rush and the stampede.
Many argued that the ministry tried to blame the passengers for the stampede so that the rail administration’s image is not tarnished.
This is the second stampede that has taken place in the wake of Maha Kumbh being held in Prayagraj. On Mauni Amavasya (January 29), a stampede near the Sangam area at the Kumbh mela led to the death of 30 devotees and left 60 others injured, according to the Uttar Pradesh government.
The incident has been raked up by the Opposition to attack the BJP-led government at Centre and Uttar Pradesh. On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party MLC Ashutosh Sinha visited the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with an urn labelled ‘mortal remains of morality’. He flayed the Adityanath government for allegedly hiding the death toll in the Kumbh stampede.
