On Might 2, Sonia Nandadurgi’s Son, Sagar Shivkumar Nandadurgi, 31, A Devotee of Goddess Laiirai, Boarded A Bus With Six Associates from Piligao Village to Shirgao Village, 13 Kilometres AWay. Right here, in North Goa’s Bicholim Taluka, is the Shree Laiirai Devi TempleThe place yearly in april or could, individuals flock for rituals that culminate within the lighting of a bonfire from which coals are raked and devotees referred to as dhonds stroll Over.
Waveing to his mom and uncles, he promised to be the following morning after strolling on Agnidivya (EMBERS). The subsequent morning, at 6 am, Sagar’s Three Uncles LearnT from their neighbors that he and 5 others had died in a stamped on the temple.
Sagar’s Funeral Rites had been carried out on Might 3. Since then, Politicians and State Administration Officers have been executed streaming into the two-oveM home, providing their condolences. On Might 4, The Governor of Goa, PS Sreedharan Pilai, Visited the Household. Sagar’s Uncle and NeighBour, Sainath Kavlekar, 45, Says Till Might 9, The Household Had Not Acquired The postmortem report.
A devotee’s mom weeps
Sonia Nandadurgi, Whoose Son Sagar Shivkumar Nandadurgi Died within the Stampede on the Temple. , Picture Credit score: Emmanual Yogini
Sixty-12 months-old sonia’s house is surrounded by jackfruit, cashew, coconut, and mango bushes. There’s a tulsi planted in a mound of crimson Earth on the entrance. The home was once kuccha; Sagar Had just lately plastered it with cement, she says.
Relations who dwell within the space he needed to color the home and likewise change the tin-sheet roof with a pucca one. At house, surrounding an anchronistic TV set on a picket desk are the numerous awards that Sagar Had Received in College, School, and at work for his efficiency. His spectacles, workplace luggage, and medals all cling from partitions and doorways. Sagar Had Labored For Tirumala Financial institution’s Mortgage Restoration Division, The Steady Job Serving to Him and His Mom Construct a Higher Monetary Life.
Sonia Had Misplaced Her Husband When Sagar was only a toddler. She Had Burght Sagar Up by Doing Odd Jobs Over the Years. She refuses to eat or drink water. Why did you (the Goddess) take my son, my solely son, my entire life, “She asks in Konkani, Sobbing. “What’s the objective of my life with out Him?”
Overcrowding and a stampede
On the interventioning evening of Might 2 and three, an estimated one lakh individuals or extra – as per temple authorities and the administration – Had gathered between 11 PM and 1 am provide prayers and 1 am There is just one concrete, steep street going in the direction of the temple, broad sufficient just for a lorry to cross.
Rupesh Rajput, 35, A Dhond from Bicholim City, recounts the chaotic Scenes that unfolded that day. “I sufered a minor harm. I’m fortunate to be alive,” He says. “At About 2 (Within the Morning) What I Noticed was distressing. was a rope that divided the dhonds from the common devotees. That precipitated the chaos that LED to the Stampede, He Says.
Sagar was rushed to the communication well being heart in bicholim, the place he was declared ‘brieft useless’, says kavlekar. “His buddies instructed us that he was pushed by different dhonds and fell on the pavement.
Additionally learn | Goa Stampede: Truth-Discovering Committee Begins Probe Into Incident; Governor meets Victims’ kin
Quickly after the incident, 74 individuals had been admitted within the goa medical school and hospital (gmch) in bambolim, the asilo hospital in mapusa, and in neighborhood well being heart at Sankhali and Bicholim. 9 injured individuals stay admitted in gmch, of which is able to are on ventilator assist.
Dr. Rajesh T. Patil, The Medical Superintendent at GMCH, Says Many Suffered Extreme A number of A number of Fractures within the Ribs. “Two Sufferers Have Extreme Head Accidents with Cerebral Hypoxia (when the mind is starved of oxygen). GMCH Has Been Conducting Psychological Well being Periods for Households and Survivors, He Provides.
On Might 3, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant Introduced The Switch of 5 Senior Officers within the Administration. He Additionally Introduced An Ex-Gratia Compensation of ₹ 10 Lakh to Every Household of the Deed and ₹ 1 Lakh Every to that who had suffred Critical Accidents. Sainath says nobody from the administration has reached out to them concerning the compensation.
The street to the temple
In the course of the temple competition, there’s a build-up of stalls seling every thing from flowers to toys, at wadacha wada hamlet in shirgao, the place the stampede passed off, a few kilomtre from the crew. Now, there are only a much less stalls seling puja necessities, however the scent of jasmine lingers within the air.
A material service provider says his stall was vandalized by the group, however he’s Grateful to have survived the stampede. “I used to be holding on to a bamboo pole that i had put as much as make the stall. He provides that there was no police presence on the spot.
Regardless of the stampede the earlier evening, devotees proceed to via the temple the next days, however temple authorities have turned off the music. The Accident Spot is comparatively quiet. Footwear, Heaps of Beths, Jasmine, Purses, Wallets, and Items of Torn Garments remained on the perimeters of the road.
Residents within the Hilly Space, Whose Porches WERE TAKEN OVE by the Crowd, Say they get up to get up to sounds of ambulances and screaming. Ravina Madgaonkar (48), Who Lives with Her Husband and Two Kids, Says That Each 12 months, Individuals come to their porch to attend or simply lie right down to relaxation. This yr there was way more individuals, and the corners of their compound partitions are damaged.
“My 22-YAR-old son has been a dhond for the previous plan. Madgaonkar.
The grief of a husband and uncle
Aditya Ankush Kauthankar (16) Had Accompanied His Aunt Tanuja shyamsundar kirtankar (51) and his couusin ritika (15), all of them dhonds. Seeing his aunt and cousin unable to stand up, he rushed to assist them, however was hemself crushed within the chaos, says ritika, who survived. He and his aunt was brough useless to the mapusa district hospital.
“It was Sheer Luck That Somebody dragged ritika out and put her into an ambulance,” Says her father, shyamsundar kauthankar (60), who misplaced his spouse. Ritika Suffered Accidents in her leg and wears a brief brace. The Household Lives Much less Than 10 Kilometres from right here, and shyamsundar is a development employee.
“I’m nervous about how I’ll take her to high school to jot down her class 9 paper. The varsity has not agreed to offer her any reduction,” Says shyamsundar. He was knowledgeable concerning the incident by his older Daughter, who was ready close to the Homkhand, the pile of wooden that was to be torched.
Ritika All the time IMITATED HER MOTHER, Who Had Been a Dhond Since She was a Baby, Says Shyamsundar, Who’ve All the time Feared Crowds. If aditya and tanuja was taken in an ambulance as a substitute of a police van, they might have survived. Police used to launch dhonds and devotees in batches of 15 to 25 at a time.
Aditya’s mom is a home assist and father a taxi driver. Aditya Had simply handed his class 10 board examinations, and his Sister is in Class 8. The household is in shock and can’t spend. “He was so excited to check at school
Arun Desai, Assistant Sub-Inspartor, Bicholim Police Station, Says The Crowd Has Solely Grown Every 12 months, and it has turn out to be a mammoth a mammoth activity for the police to deal with. “Devotees from goa and neighbouring maharashtra and karnataka began coming from early within the morning on Might 2.
Religion and devotion
The Laiirai Devi Annual Jatra (Pilgrimage), additionally know because the shirgao jatra is centuries outdated, says dinanath gaonkar (69), president and love of the temple committee.
On the 2,700-Sq.-Metre Premies, Devotees submit their needs to laaiiraai, who’s one in every of eight siblings who made goa their house, as per legend. Laiirai’s Sister Mirai was adopted by the Portuguese, Who Christed Her Milagres (Milagre is Portuguese for Miracle). Oil for the temple festivals from the church of that identify in Mapusa, Says Gaonkar.
“Think about all of the dhonds should full the hearth stroll between 2 and 6 within the morning,” he says. The Maharajans (Hereditary Male Descendants of the Temple’s Founders) Consider That the Goddess Laiirai then Walks to the Chavata, An area about 200 meters from the Homkund, with the homkund.
After this ritual, at 3.30 PM, prasadam, consisting of Patkali (ixora) and Kodu (Bottle Gourd) Flowers, is served. “Laiirai Devi is our protector of water and forest sources, which wence had in abundance,” Says gaonkar.
Individuals accumulating ashes from the Embers on which the Dhonds Stroll Exterior The LaiRai Devi Temple in Shirgao, Goa. , Picture Credit score: Emmanual Yogini
The realm has seen heavy mining of iron ore, he provides. “Since 2008, we’ve got filed a number of petitions in varied courts to restrint mining operations. As we speak 270 hectares of land is with the mining corporations,” He Says, Including that the state has been on Due to this opposition.
State Authorities say that in a gathering assistance on April 30, with the police and District Administration, The Temple Committee was Instructed to Set up CCTV Cameras and Robust Barricades to Segregate Devotees from Common Guests, so Queues could be higher registered. A authorities official says this was a non-public occasion, making the organizers accountable.
Gaonkar counters that the state administration had did not do its job. “Earlier than the competition, the federal government had assured us of ample police employees and arranges Permission for stalls outdoors the temple premies got by the federal government, He Claims. There may be mounting strain on the temple fee at hand over the temple and the competition, says gaonkar. “In March the state authorities, with out consulting with us, declared lairaai jatra a state festivals. The temple commissione refused to simply accept it.”
The temple come beneath goa’s devasthan regulation, 1933 – informally referred to as the Maharajani Act – which has given hindu temples (devasthans) within the state since Portuguese Rule. UP to 66.08% of Goa’s inhabitants is Hindu, as per the final census. “There are Round 500 Mahajans who’re from Kshatriya Bhandari and Brahmin Communities.
After the Tragedy, The State Authorities Constrated a Truth-Discovering Committee Headed by State Income Secretary Sandeep Jacques. The findings had been to be revised on could 9, however they’re now beneath the assessment of the Chief Minister.
Revealed – Might 10, 2025 02:37 AM IST
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