Goa stampede: Fact finding inquiry committee recommends dissolving the temple management committee

The Fact-Finding Inquiry Committee (FFIC), constituted to investigate the tragic Goa stampede that occurred aboriginal connected the greeting of May 3, 2025, during the Lairai Jatra festival successful Shirgao, North Goa, recommended that the Goa authorities dissolve the Shree Lairai temple absorption committee.

The report, made disposable connected Tuesday (May 13, 2025), stated that the incident, which led to aggregate deaths and injuries, was wholly preventable.

“The nonaccomplishment connected the portion of the organisers are concerned, inter alia, particularly with respect to readying and safety, with not taking cognizance of immoderate untoward incidents successful the past, and much peculiarly with their wilful non-compliance with administrative information directives; consequently, the Committee powerfully recommends that the authorities should research the anticipation of dissolving the Temple Management Committee and appointing an Administrator, aft pursuing owed process of law, if deemed appropriate,” the study stated.

The Committee’s probe encompassed tract visits, consultations with stakeholders, and a reappraisal of administrative records. “The FFIC has concluded that the calamity was wholly preventable and stemmed from a operation of mediocre planning, deficiency of enforcement, ignored directives, and inadequate infrastructure. The recommendations provided successful this Report purpose to guarantee that specified incidents bash not hap successful the future.”

Based connected tract visits, interactions with eyewitnesses, injured victims, organisers, enforcement magistrates, constabulary officials, and perusal of disposable records, the committee recovered that the stampede was precipitated by a confluence of preventable lapses and oversights among cardinal stakeholders.

The study stated, “The Committee has recovered that the contiguous origin of the stampede was overcrowding connected the pathway from Tali to Homkhand, peculiarly astatine the precocious extremity of the sloped conception adjacent the RBL Bank Branch, Shirgao, aggravated by the unruly behaviour of the Dhonds and deficiency of due assemblage power measures astatine that location. The assemblage was permitted to participate the pathway from Tali successful groups, which were subsequently channelled into a two-by-two queue enactment beyond the sloped conception starring towards Homkhand.”

This statement resulted successful a build-up of radical connected the sloped section, causing overcrowding successful that area. The overcrowding, coupled with attempts by immoderate groups of Dhonds to propulsion guardant done the assemblage and their unruly behaviour, caused instability among devotees walking on the slope.

As a result, it was fixed to recognize that a idiosyncratic fell face-first connected the sloped section, triggering a concatenation absorption successful which respective radical down and astir her mislaid their equilibrium and fell implicit each other. Owing to the downward slope, constricted visibility, the propulsion of the crowd, and unruly behaviour, radical approaching from down were unaware of the autumn and continued moving forward, starring to the stampede, the study read.

“During the inquiry, immoderate injured victims informed the Committee that a insignificant incidental of a akin quality allegedly had occurred successful the past, wherein, successful 1 instance, 1 devotee’s limb was critically injured connected the time of the Homkhand,” the 26-page study said, adding that past year, a pistillate allegedly died owed to suffocation astatine the sloped conception of the pathway.

“However, the Committee did not find immoderate grounds to substantiate specified an incident. Notwithstanding the lack of authoritative records, the Committee is of the presumption that cardinal stakeholders, including the organisers, the territory administration, and the territory police, should person reviewed past occurrences and undertaken capable precautionary measures to forestall specified untoward incidents.”

Several eyewitnesses and injured victims reported that immoderate groups of Dhonds forcefully attempted to determination from Tali towards Homkhand. “The organisers were expected to transportation retired thorough capableness readying based connected the determination of cardinal sites and the disposable entree routes. Despite the beingness of aggregate alternate routes, the Committee recovered that the organisers failed to make a multi-route circulation program to debar congestion on the superior pathway betwixt Tali and Homkhand. No systematic appraisal appears to person been undertaken utilizing humanities data, assemblage accomplishment patterns, the festival’s increasing popularity, the year-by-year summation successful the fig of Dhonds, and the quality of the visitors, peculiarly for high-density events similar the Homkhand ritual,” the study read.

The committee stated it was imperative for organisers to behaviour a broad hazard investigation and preparedness workout and/or cooperate with authorities, incorporating their input successful readying and execution. “However, a reappraisal of the minutes of each pre-event meetings conducted by gross and constabulary officials revealed that the organisers did not supply captious accusation regarding the expected fig of visitors, imaginable risks based connected past incidents, oregon options for alternate circulation routes. On the contrary, the Committee recovered that the organisers look to person disregarded circumstantial instructions issued by the gross and constabulary authorities regarding assemblage management, focusing alternatively solely connected the behaviour of spiritual activities,” the study said.

The study further stated that the organisers neither demonstrated the intent nor undertook immoderate factual steps to forestall the proliferation of stalls, contempt having been intelligibly informed by the constabulary and gross officials astir the risks involved. “The Committee recovered that the organisers were afloat alert of this constraint and its imaginable consequences but wilfully failed to initiate preventive measures to mitigate the hazard of an untoward incident.”

The Committee observed that though imperishable CCTV cameras had been installed wrong the temple precincts, the organisers did not widen surveillance to high-risk outer areas. “It is peculiarly concerning that nary impermanent CCTV cameras were arranged (on a rental ground oregon otherwise) astatine cardinal locations specified arsenic Tali and the pathway starring to Homkhand, including the sloped section, which is good known for overcrowding and the haphazard question of Dhonds.”

“This captious incidental was precipitated by a concatenation of preventable failures arising from inadequate assemblage hazard assessment, lack of unidirectional circulation planning, non-implementation of information directives, ambiguity successful sectoral responsibilities, nonaccomplishment to utilise surveillance tools, unregulated roadside vending, and the deficiency of pre-emptive assemblage behaviour absorption — each pointing to organization and procedural shortcomings among the organisers, the territory administration, the police, and the section body,” the committe observed.

“The Police statement bid issued by the Superintendent of Police, North Goa District, dated April 29, 2025, refers to the installation of six watchtowers. However, during its enactment with the Police Inspector, Bicholim, the Committee learnt that the watchtower designated adjacent the sloped conception was not erected astatine all, and the 2 constabulary constables assigned to that determination were deployed astatine different points,” the study added.

Although the Police had deployed a drone for surveillance purposes, the Committee recovered that it was not utilised during the aforementioned captious period. The reasons for this could not beryllium established astatine this time, the committee stated.

The State authorities has issued Show Cause Notices to 8 erstwhile officials from North Goa District administration, the section constabulary department, and Shirgao panchayat. 

Published - May 13, 2025 11:31 p.m. IST