Question : Stampede in Religious Places

(a) whether the Government is aware of the increasing incidents of stampede in the religious places in the country and the recent incident of stampede in the Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir, Jammu and Kashmir in which 12 pilgrims have lost their lives and few others were injured;

(b) if so, the details thereof and the number of such similar incidents during the last three years, year/State-wise;

(c) whether any probe has been ordered over the incident and if so, its findings thereof;

(d) the steps taken by the Government to prevent the recurrence of such incidents and the amount of compensation paid to the next of kin of dead and injured and if not, the reasons therefor; and

(e) the details of any policy of the Government to provide compensation or other relief to the victims of such incidents at religious places in the country?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a) & (b): As per the information received from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir, 12 pilgrims lost their lives in a stampede that occurred on 01.01.2022 at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine, Katra, Jammu & Kashmir.

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Further, the data relating accidental deaths due to stampede are maintained by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB). The details of Accidental deaths due to Stampede during 2018- 2020 is as under:

Period No. of Accidental Death due to Stampede
2018 6
2019 12
2020 14
2021* -
* The data for the year 2021 is being compiled by NCRB.

(c): As per the provisions of the Constitution of India, public order and police are State subjects. The State Governments concerned are primarily responsible for security and maintenance of law & order in public places including religious places. They conduct enquiry into the incidents of stampede and take appropriate remedial action. A high level three member committee headed by the Principal Secretary (Home), Govt. of J&K has been constituted to ascertain the reasons behind the incident of Stampede in Mata Vaishno Devi Mandir, Jammu & Kashmir.

(d) & (e): Government of J&K has informed that they have taken several steps to ensure safety and security of the pilgrims which inter-alia include online yatra registration, token system for darshan, RFID based crowd


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management, construction of new shelters and halting points for pilgrims, installation of CCTV cameras, other crowd management measures etc. The Government of India issues advisories to State Government/UT administrations from time to time with regard to crowd management and security and safety of the people visiting religious places and other public places. Central Government also keeps watch on Law & Order situation of the country through its agencies and provides necessary assistance as per their requirement/ demands. The State/ UT Government concerned take suitable steps to provide compensation or other relief to the victims of such incidents at religious places.

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