BHOPAL: At least four devotees from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Chhattisgarh have died in the past two days during the massive Kanwar Yatra at Kubereshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district, as authorities struggled to manage the overwhelming influx of pilgrims.The victims include Jaswanti Ben (56) from Rajkot, Gujarat, and Sangita Gupta from Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, who reportedly died in a stampede on Tuesday, just hours before the main procession led by religious preacher Pradip Mishra began at midnight. The same day, two more devotees—Chatur Singh (50) from Gujarat and Ishwar Singh (65) from Rohtak, Haryana, collapsed and died, likely due to heart complications after being trapped in suffocating crowds amid humid weather.The fatalities occurred as over 2.5 lakh devotees from across India descended upon the religious site, overwhelming infrastructure and leading to a complete breakdown of basic amenities, including drinking water, food, and sanitation. Traffic chaos compounded the crisis, with the Indore-Bhopal Highway gridlocked since Tuesday night, leaving vehicles stranded for hours. Despite official restrictions on heavy vehicles and alternate routes, enforcement was either poorly executed or ignored entirely.Madhya Pradesh cabinet minister Govind Rajput acknowledged the lack of preparedness, stating, “Such a massive crowd wasn’t expected, which has actually led the system to fall short. I urge the administration to take control and ensure that such a tragedy doesn’t repeat.”Meanwhile, former MP minister and Congress MLA Rajendra Singh questioned accountability, asking, “Who will take the responsibility for the deaths which happened at the Kubereshwar Dham in the last two days? Will the authorities or those associated with the religious event, who is to be held responsible for it?”The incident has raised serious concerns over crowd management at large religious gatherings, with calls for stricter safety measures to prevent further tragedies.
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