No data on Maha Kumbh stampede maintained by central govt: Home Ministry

New Delhi: The Union home ministry on Tuesday said that no data related to the casualties at Maha Kumbha mela is ‘maintained centrally’, The Wire reported.

Responding to a question by Opposition MPs regarding the stampede at the mela, Junior home minister Nityanand Rai said that religious congregations and crowd management are a state subject.

Nityanand Rai reportedly said: ‘Conducting of any type of inquiry into any type of disasters occurring in a state, including stampedes, and provision of financial assistance to families of deceased devotees and injured persons, also come under the purview of the concerned state governments. The state governments are competent to deal with such situations. No such data is maintained centrally.’

The minister’s response came after Congress MPs K.C. Venugopal and Kirsan Namdeo sought details of number of fatalities and casualties during the stampede.

Alongside seeking details of the steps takes to probe the cause of the tragedy, the Opposition MPs wanted to know the details of the judicial inquiry into the incident, and if any assistance was given to the victims and their relatives.

Rai said that the state governments should develop their own mechanisms using the guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority and Bureau of Police Research and Development on crowd management.

‘The ministry of home affairs has issued an advisory to all states/Union Territories advising them to use these templates to prepare their own standard operating procedures (SOPs) and devise a checklist for appropriate authorities,’ Rai was quoted as saying.