Team Herald
PANJIM: Indicating that the sloping ground near the Shirgao temple, the site of the tragic stampede that claimed six lives and left several others injured, had been identified as accident-prone, a senior government official on Sunday informed that a similar, but minor incident, was reported at the same location during last year’s festival.
Meanwhile, rituals were held at the Shree Lairai Devi temple as hundreds of devotees arrived on foot despite the temple committee appealing to them to stay away
The official said, “The stampede broke out on a sloping ground which is prone to such accidents. We have learnt that a similar incident, on a minor scale, had happened at the same spot during last year’s festival.”
The official added that the fact-finding committee constituted by the Goa government will investigate as to why precautions were not taken this year.
The panel is headed by Sandip Jacques, commissioner and secretary (revenue), with deputy inspector general Varsha Sharma, Director of Transport Pravimal Abhishek and Superintendent of Police Tikam Singh Verma as its members.
The panel is recording the statements of senior officials in charge of crowd management at the event.
“The committee has recorded the statements of North Goa Collector Sneha Gitte, Superintendent of Police Akshat Kaushal, Deputy Superintendent of Police Jivba Dalvi, Deputy Collector Bhimnath Khorjuvekar, members of the temple committee and others,” he said. The panel will need at least a couple of more days to gather inputs and file a report, the official said.
It is also looking into reports that a fight between two groups of devotees triggered the stampede, he said.
Despite the lanes leading to the temple being narrow, the temple committee had allowed shops to be set up on the route, adding to congestion, the official said.
Meanwhile, rituals were held at the Sree Lairai Devi temple as hundreds of devotees arrived on foot despite the temple committee appealing to them to stay away.
Devotees walked at least two km to take part in a ritual where the goddess (her idol) ‘visits’ the houses of local residents.
The ritual follows a day after the ‘homkhand’ rite during which devotees walk on the embers of a big fire lit in the temple grounds.
Dinanath Gaonkar, president of the temple committee, said, “It was not possible to cancel the ritual. The incident on Saturday was unfortunate. Lives were lost. But we cannot stop the rituals. The temple committee had made an appeal to devotees to avoid visiting the village. The police have also placed barricades in Assonora to stop vehicles from entering the area.”
Yet, many were seen walking to the village on Sunday.
Stalls set up in the lanes around the temple too remained open.
A local resident said, “You cannot stop people from attending the festival, as Devi Lairai is a revered deity with devotees across Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka.”
It may be recalled that in the wee hours of Saturday, a stampede broke out as thousands of devotees thronged the narrow lanes leading up to the temple. While six persons died, about 70 were injured.
The fact-finding committee on Saturday commenced its inquiry into the Shirgao stampede.
The committee started its work by visiting the site on Saturday.
Jacques said, “We are doing our homework. It is going to take a couple of days. We went to the site and saw what could be the probable reasons for the incident. We also met the temple committee members as well. The inquiry will go for a couple of days.”
When asked whether the report will be completed and submitted by Sunday, Jacques said, “We are working on it because a lot of enquiries need to be done. The inquiry is still in the preliminary stage and we are doing our homework.”
‘Code red’ system
in hospitals
soon: Minister
Team Herald
PANJIM: Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Sunday said that the Health Department will implement a “code red” system in hospitals to ensure swift response
to emergencies.
Speaking to reporters after visiting stampede victims at Goa Medical College and Hospital, Rane said the code red protocol will be implemented in the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) and later in district hospitals and the Super Speciality Hospital.
He stated that “code red” is an internationally-established emergency response protocol. He said, “Code Red protocol activates automatically during medical emergencies in hospitals.”
He said, “You don't need to wait for any department or individual to respond. Under this system, multi-disciplinary doctors are immediately engaged to ensure quick and necessary decisions.”
Stating the system will be implemented in three phases starting with GMC, the minister expressed confidence that the “code red” mechanism will be helpful in dealing with emergencies more effectively.
“I told doctors that the government will immediately act on any demand for engaging specialists from any part of the country to treat the injured persons or backup systems needed to stabilise patients,” he added.
Rane said, “Patients are responding positively to the treatment provided by the GMC doctors who have been very proactive after the incident occurred.”