Deadly faith

Sir — The people killed in the Sabarimala incident were devotees of Lord Ayyappa. They were on their way back after celebrating the Makaravilakku festival. The stampede was the biggest mishap in Kerala after 107 passengers of the Bangalore-Thiruvananthapuram Island Express died when the train fell off the Perumon bridge across the Ashatamudi lake in Kollam district in 1988.

The huge rush at the Sabarimala temple and the narrow roads are the main reasons behind the accident. The precautions taken by the government to avoid such disasters have come to nought. More scientific planning is required to administer the crowds and the traffic to make the Sabarimala shrine safe for visitors.


K.A. Solaman
The Telegraph, Kolkata 19 Jan 2011