The administration, however, insists that it has pulled up its socks. The first measure was to streamline the inflow of the pilgrims. "While earlier there were seven barricades, it has now been increased to 10, and people are being sent in batches of 200. Only when a group crosses a barricade, is the next group allowed to move," Additional District Magistrate C P Verma, who was monitoring the process, said.
"We have also ensured that there is only one entry point and multiple exit points after the pilgrims offer darshan," Verma said. The number of CCTV cameras have also been increased, he added.
"There are now six more days of Navratra to go. The days of Ashtmi and Navmi will be very crowded. We are prepared to handle the influx of pilgrims," he claimed.
Could the tragedy have been averted if some of these measures had been put in place earlier?
"It is easy to say things in retrospect. And it is also very easy to criticise the administration. If there was one thing we could have done, it was streamlining the pilgrims from the first day. When 2000 people are present in a place that can hold only 200, things are bound to go wrong," he said.
Image: Pilgrims arrange stones on top of each other to 'build houses'. It is believed that those who don't own a house will be able to build one if they pray to the goddess and build one of these structures on their way out of the temple.
Officials are investigating if such loose stones that rolled down due to heavy showers were the reason that sparked rumours of a landslide on the fateful day.
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