Govt probe report doesn't identify rumour mongers

Though the Narayanganj district administration-formed committee's probe report cited rumours of a bridge collapsing to be one of the two core reasons for the March 27 Langalbadh stampede, there was no mention of who spread it or what the motive was.

Acknowledging this, one of the committee's seven members said, "It is law enforcers' job, not ours."

Moreover, there was no information on whether magistrates were at their respective posts and why the incident occurred despite monitoring by the district administration.

The seven-member committee convener, Ishrat Hossain Khan, also Local Government Division deputy director, submitted the report to Deputy Commissioner Anisur Rahman Miah yesterday afternoon.

Ten people were left dead and another 20 injured of the around 8 to 15 lakh devotees, as per locals, who had thronged the site for the annual "Maha Astami Snan".

Hindu leaders had blamed local criminals for spreading the rumours to rob devotees of valuables.

The other reason cited was a high turnout of devotees at Rajghat, the most revered of the 16 ghats there and lying at one end of the 50-yard stretch of the stampede till the bailey bridge, for several circumstances including that the event falling in a three-day holiday, a shorter window of time than yester years for the ritual holy dip in the Brahmaputra, and devotees' preference for Rajghat which is the junction of three roads. The report made a 15-point recommendation.

It includes building a ghat along a three-kilometre stretch, dredging two kilometres of the river, identifying owners of land adjoining the site and acquiring land if required, reserving space for fairs and shops, and a stop to the district administration leasing out land.

Moreover, it suggested barring roadside shops, connecting the ghat with the main road, doubling the road's width and erecting dividers; replacing the current bridges with concrete ones, deploying an "adequate" number of law enforcers and volunteers, increasing monitoring, and providing toilets, clean water, changing rooms, and sheds.