Spiritual leader Swami Chidanand Saraswati on Thursday said that the mistake of a few people led to the stampede at Maha Kumbh 2025. He said a few individuals ignored barricading and defied administrative orders, leading to the tragic loss of lives.
"On Mauni Amavasya, an incident happened. There were all the arrangements but due to the mistake of a few people, who did not listen to the administration and ignored the barricading, this incident happened," Saraswati said while speaking to ANI.
The stampede at the Sangam area during Mauni Amavasya in the early hours of Wednesday resulted in 30 deaths and 60 injuries, as millions of devotees gathered for a holy dip.
Maha Kumbh DIG Vaibhav Krishna detailed the chaotic crowd surge that led to the disaster. "The incident took place due to the pressure of the crowd. The crowd broke barricades and jumped to the other side, crushing those waiting there. Over 90 injured were rushed to the hospital, of whom 30 died," he said.
Authorities have confirmed that 25 of the deceased have been identified, including four from Karnataka and one each from Assam and Gujarat. Among those injured, 36 are still undergoing treatment.
Swami Saraswati, however, flagged the need for better facilities along pilgrimage routes to prevent such tragedies in the future. "All the schools, colleges, and hospitals should be opened so that when people get tired of walking, they will get a place to sit and relax for some time," he suggested.
Saraswati said that the whole country, state, and the saint community were standing with the bereaved families. "PM Modi, CM Yogi Adityanath, and the whole team are working to make the arrangements effective so that no such incident should happen."
Drawing comparisons with other pilgrimages, he said, "The journey to Mansarovar is 52 km, see the journey to Vrindavan, Vaishno Devi, Badrinath and Kedarnath, in every journey one has to walk. Therefore, we should not pay attention to the fact that we have to walk."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered his condolences, calling the incident "extremely saddening." Officials reported that despite the tragedy, over 7.5 crore devotees took a dip on Wednesday.