ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Stampede in Kerala assembly over Sabarimala tragedy

On February 7, authorities of the Kerala state and the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple will sit down to discuss the creation of more facilities for the millions of pilgrims visiting the hill shrine every year.

The announcement came from Chief Minister E K Nayanar. He was replying to the opposition's charges in the state assembly about the January 14 Pampa stampede, wherein 53 pilgrims were killed and 49 injured.

The government and the Travancore Devaswom Board will jointly take steps to find a solution to the problems faced by pilgrims, he said.

Nayanar said 25 victims were from Andhra Pradesh, 11 each from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and six from Kerala.

Of the 49 injured, 31 belonged to Andhra Pradesh, 10 to Tamil Nadu, two to Karnataka, and six to Kerala.

The chief minister, who visited Pampa on January 16, said the death toll would have been higher had not the police, the fire force, and pilgrims immediately launched rescue operations in a commendable manner. Relief workers rescued more than 100 pilgrims, he said.

Pointing out that the Centre's reluctance to clear the use of forest land hampered development activities at the hill shrine, Nayanar said his government would fight for this.

Earlier in the day, the assembly was adjourned for nearly 90 minutes as the treasury and opposition benches clashed over a remark from Nayanar. Consequently, some opposition members staged a dharna (sit-in) in the well of the house.

The unrest was triggered when Nayanar claimed that Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan of the Congress, who spoke on a motion seeking leave of the house to discuss the Pampa tragedy, was talking like a spokesman of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Congress members protested, and wanted the chief minister to withdraw the statement. The latter refused to oblige.

The opposition then rushed to the well of the house.

Some members of the opposition and the ruling Left Democratic Front were seen advancing menacingly towards each other. A clash was averted when senior members from both sides intervened.

The watch-and-ward staff formed a protective wall around the speaker's podium and the first row of the treasury benches.

Opposition members Ezhukone Narayanan, Mammen Mathai, Rosamma Chacko and K S Chandran sat in the well of the house for some time.

Speaker Vijayakumar then adjourned the house.

When the house reassembled, during which period the speaker held discussions with the leaders of legislature groups, Vijayakumar said everyone should co-operate with the chair and he would examine the records and expunge any remark that was not in keeping with the decorum of the house.

The opposition members agreed to the speaker's suggestion, but walked out of the house a little later when he withheld consent to the adjournment motion.

On the allegation that the government did not have sufficient machinery to tackle the situation at Pampa on January 14, Nayanar said there were 200 police officers, 1,300 constables and 150 government officials there.

Raising the issue, Radhakrishnan alleged that "criminal negligence" on the part of the Marxist-led government and the Devaswom Board. Though the government had announced that it would order a judicial inquiry, no sitting judge had so far been appointed to conduct the inquiry, he said.

The government had not convened even a single meeting of those concerned to discuss the arrangements to be made for the nearly 30 million pilgrims visiting the shrine during November-January. There was no proper co-ordination among the 12 different departments handled by seven ministers, he charged.

Former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition A K Antony criticised the government for the "casual manner" in which it handled the situation. This tendency was reflected in the governor's address to the house in which there was not a word of condolence, he alleged.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report