As many as three pilgrims succumbed to extreme cold waves conditions at the Madhuwan Jain Tirthsthal in Parasnath during the Parwat vandana on Saturday.
The deceased include Sunita Devi of Mysore in Karnataka, Aditya Pohre of Nagpur and Prakash Sinhai of Narsinghpur in Maharashtra.
Local police sources confirmed that the three Madhuwan Jain Tirthsthal pilgrims did succumb to the cold while a few others have been admitted in various clinics at Giridih. The overnight foggy and extremely windy conditions have wreaked havoc in Madhuwan area of Parasnath in Giridih.
Authorities have appealed to pilgrims to not travel at late at night in order to prevent themselves from the constantly dipping temperature. “The weather changed unexpectedly and pilgrims were not prepared. They were not carrying enough woolen clothing,” said Neeraj Kumar, sub divisional police officer, (SDPO), Dumri block. Kumar informed that nearly 500 pilgrims had registered for the yatra, but they have now been asked not to go ahead with their pilgrimage for the time being. “We have opened up hostels to for the stranded pilgrims. Blankets and heaters are also being provided,” he said.
Meteorological department informed that the temperature at Madhuwan area in Parasnath was 7 degrees Celsius on Saturday morning.
According to the pilgrims who were travelling with the deceased persons, all three pilgrims started their parwat Vanda early morning around 2am and reached near Kalikund. Soon, two of them including Sunita Devi and Aditya Pohre, complained of having chest pain and were rushed to hospital. However, by the time they reached the hospital, doctors declared them dead. Another pilgrim identified as Prakash Singhai, died in the wee hours of Saturday while he was taking a walk at his lodge in Madhuwan.
The local met office informed that the cold waves and frigid condition is most likely to persist for the next couple of days. As DC Giridih Neha Arora was on leave, DDC Mukund Dad was contacted for quotes. However, he refrained from confirming the casualties. "I have not received the details yet so it is not possible for me to say anything at this point,” he said.
