Team Herald
BICHOLIM: A day after the government released the fact-finding report into the tragic May 3 stampede at the Shree Lairai Devi temple in Shirgao — which left six dead and over 70 injured — the temple’s managing committee president, Dinanath ‘Dina’ Gaonkar, claimed he had not received the report and denied any lapse in cooperation with the district administration.
The damning report, prepared by a four-member committee, squarely blamed the temple committee, along with the district administration, police and Shirgao panchayat for serious lapses in planning and crowd management. It concluded that the stampede during the annual zatra could have been avoided with adequate preparation.
“I am yet to receive the fact-finding committee report from the government. I don’t know when we will receive the report. But once I get it, I will examine it and respond,” Gaonkar told O Heraldo when contacted for his reaction.
When asked about the report’s criticism of the temple committee, Gaonkar dismissed suggestions that it had failed to cooperate. “We never fell short and we cooperated with the district administration,” he said, adding that the report would be discussed with the mahazans before taking any further steps.
However, former temple managing committee president Ganesh Gaonkar took a harder stance, demanding the resignation of the current committee on moral grounds. “With the fact-finding committee holding the current temple managing committee responsible, the committee has no right to continue and they should resign from their posts owing moral responsibility,” he said. He also claimed to have submitted documentation regarding the functioning of the
current committee.
The report exposes multiple administrative and logistical failures, particularly the inability to address recurring issues such as the unruly behaviour of a section of dhonds (devotees). Despite previous warnings and known crowd risks, neither the temple committee nor the authorities acted decisively to prevent the tragedy. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, while making the report public on Tuesday, said that show-cause notices had been issued to eight government officials for their role in the lapses. However, whether the recommendation to dissolve the temple committee and appoint an administrator will be acted upon
remains uncertain.
Among the major lapses highlighted was the failure to implement a multi-route crowd circulation plan, even though alternate routes were available. Instead, all movement was funnelled through a single, heavily congested pathway.
The report also notes that the temple committee ignored crowd control directives from both revenue and police authorities, focusing primarily on conducting rituals.
Compounding the problem, temporary stalls were permitted to operate along both sides of the main route despite explicit warnings from officials. This severely narrowed the pathway and intensified the risk of a crush.
The report advocated the need to fix responsibility and take corrective measures after going into the reasons behind one of the worst tragedies in recent memory at the revered temple festival. Clearly, a simple denial will not satisfy anyone, leave alone the victims.