Reaching Prayagraj on Friday, January 31, 2025, a three-member judicial commission established by the Uttar Pradesh government to probe Wednesday’s stampede at the Maha Kumbh left at least 30 persons dead and 60 injured arrived.
Commission members visited the triangle-shaped Sangam Nose stampede area just before the Ganga, Yamuna, and invisible Saraswati junction. Retired judge of the Allahabad High Court, Harsh Kumar leads the panel. Former Director General of Police V.K. Gupta and retired IAS official D.K. Singh make the other two members. In the presence of strong security of Rapid Action Force troops the panel gathered topographical and geographical information of the site.
“The Commission is carefully examining the topography and site conditions. Furthermore closely examined will be CCTV footage and other vital information to identify the specific causes of the catastrophe. Justice Kumar added, “The site inspection has been finished; but, the team will review the site should necessary.”
Finding sources of problems
Deputy Inspector General Vaibhav Krishna and Senior Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi, who accompanied the panel on the site visit, attended Commission meetings with top authorities engaged in the Maha Kumbh administration earlier in the day.
The Commission has one month to finish looking at things. Its mission is to pinpoint the elements causing the stampede and the steps required to guarantee that kind of event never recurs. Just hours after a large gathering gathered on the Akhara Marg near the Sangam nose, causing the barricades to fall and a rush of devotees to the other side, trampling others who were waiting for the Brahma Muhurat holy dip, the panel was formed under Clause 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952.
