Just 69 Cops on Duty, Nearest Hospital Struggled, NDMA Rules Ignored: Can Authorities Escape Blame in Hathras?

The blame for the Hathras tragedy so far has been laid on about half-a-dozen organisers of Bhole Baba’s gathering that led to 121 deaths but can the authorities escape blame for the tragedy? The deployment of just 69 cops at the event, the lack of basic health facilities at the nearest government facility — the Sikandramau Trauma Centre — and lack of adherence to a 100-page guideline of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) are some glaring lapses.

Sources say the SIT probe in the incident could finally expose the administrative lapses and put senior officials in the dock for negligence. While the senior police officials of the district have been blaming the organisers to say a crowd of over two lakh collected at the venue against the permissible level of 80,000 people, the fact remains that just 69 policemen were posted at the event. Just one ambulance and one fire brigade vehicle were stationed, and there was no doctor or medical personnel put on duty. No senior police officer or magistrate was stationed too. It is being probed if any survey of the venue was done before permission was given or the same was done as a matter of routine.

Of 69 cops stationed on duty, there were only nine female personnel though a large number of women devotees were in the audience. The officers posted at the event included just one station house officer, four inspectors, six additional sub-inspectors, 30 head constables, nine women constables and just four traffic personnel to manage the traffic. Fifteen personnel of the UP PAC were stationed. There are questions being asked if this abysmal strength of police would have been enough for the permissible strength of 80,000 people too. Ultimately, with just one ambulance at the venue, the task of rushing the dead and injured to the hospital was done by village locals on their vehicles.

Further, the nearest government medical facility where the dead and the injured were rushed to — Sikandramau Trauma Centre — was woefully unequipped to handle such a tragedy and there was lack of medical facilities, oxygen, doctors and even electricity there.

Over three dozen injured rushed here were simply referred to other hospitals, begging the question if lack of immediate medical care contributed to the high death toll as well. There are also question marks on the administration for not being alive to the situation when the huge crowd descended at the venue far more than the estimates. New SOPs could now be formed in Uttar Pradesh.

A senior official told News18 that detailed 100-page long guidelines of the NDMA already exist with all state governments on the precautions to be taken to prevent stampedes at big public events and gatherings, but the same does not seem to have been followed at this particular event. These guidelines call for the authorities to make a site map, ensure adequate entry-exit points, put in place emergency evacuation measures and list out detailed do’s and dont’s for authorities to manage such events. These guidelines titled ‘Managing Crowds at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering’ have been repeatedly circulated to all states by the NDMA since 2014. The same seem to be ignored in Hathras.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi visited Hathras to meet the families of the victims on Friday. “There is an administration lapse. There should be proper investigation… the family members have told me that there were not enough police arrangements,” Gandhi said.