Haridwar: The Mansa Devi temple stampede has raised several questions over failure in proper crowd control and management by Haridwar district administration and police, as per locals.

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Many pointed out that adequate police presence on the pedestrian route and the entrance for better crowd control could have averted the tragedy, adding that the situation was exacerbated by unauthorised structures on the route.

Mohan Lal, whose six-year-old nephew Arush died in the stampede, said, “Only if there were proper arrangements on the temple route, my nephew would’ve been alive today. There was no police presence on the narrow route.

It was overcrowded with people moving up and down at the same time, leading to the congestion. Also, no one could move forward… Even after the incident, help arrived late.”

People started to panic when rumours spread that the temple gates were being closed, Lal said, adding: “It was a terrible sight.”

Video clips of the stampede showed a huge crowd of men, women and children stuck in a narrow passage leading to the temple.

Dozens of people, seemingly glued to each other and hardly moving, could only manage to hold the children above their heads, news agency PTI reported.

Mahendra Pratap Singh, an eyewitness who saw the stampede from a rooftop a little distance away, was quoted by PTI as saying that excess crowd was “the only factor to the tragic incident.” Ajay Jaiswal, a local, was also quoted by the agency as saying that the administration should have been more alert.

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“Mansa Devi is the biggest centre of attraction for devotees in Haridwar after Har Ki Pauri. Thousands of devotees come here every day.

The crowd swells during the month of Sawan as a rule. Being a Sunday, the possibility of a larger crowd was very much there. So, the administration should have been more alert,” he said.

Haridwar-based social activist JP Badoni told TOI, “This tragedy could’ve been averted. Local administration is solely responsible.

This is not the first such tragedy in Haridwar. However, lessons from the past have clearly not been learnt. There are over 200 illegally constructed shops along the Mansa Devi pedestrian route, many of which draw electricity illegally. Despite the area being a reserved zone, the forest department never took any action.

The religious trust managing the temple also never addressed the growing risks.” Badoni urged immediate legal steps against those responsible.

Meanwhile, assuring a comprehensive review, DM Mayur Dixit told TOI: “The temple administration has been directed to employ private security. Crowd management protocols at religious sites will undergo review.”

Soon after the tragedy, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami instructed disaster management secretary Vinod Kumar Suman to conduct a comprehensive assessment of crowd management, route planning and security measures across Uttarakhand’s pilgrimage sites to prevent similar incidents in future.