Stampede at Sehore's Kubereshwar Dham kills 2 women, hospitalises a dozen

A tragic stampede at Kubereshwar Dham in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district has claimed the lives of two women and left nearly a dozen others hospitalized. The incident occurred on Tuesday, a day ahead of a highly publicized Kanwar Yatra led by storyteller Pradeep Mishra, when an unexpectedly massive crowd of devotees surged outside a puja material shop. The chaos that ensued caused a number of women to fall, and in the resulting crush, two were fatally injured while many others suffered from suffocation and distress.

The stampede has once again raised serious questions about the administration's preparedness and crowd management at religious gatherings. Despite claims by the authorities that they had made arrangements for thousands of pilgrims, the sheer number of devotees overwhelmed the system. Witnesses described a chaotic scene where volunteers struggled to pull victims from the crowd, and it reportedly took over an hour to get the injured to the district hospital. The incident is not the first of its kind at Kubereshwar Dham, as a similar stampede occurred at the location in February 2023.

Local MLA Sudesh Rai expressed grief but defended the administration, stating that the crowd's size was unexpected. However, critics are pointing to a lack of coordination between organizers and authorities, noting that traffic diversion and parking plans for the main Kanwar Yatra were not in effect at the time of the stampede. The massive influx of pilgrims has also caused a crippling traffic jam on the Indore-Bhopal highway, severely hindering the movement of ambulances and emergency vehicles, further highlighting the collapse of logistical planning.