Palamau police was caught napping in terms of crowd management during Chhath festival as a huge crowd of devotees and public stood watching the most pious festival Chhath with a countable number of loopholes on Friday and Saturday.
A tractor trolley entered the crowd at Nawa Toli and Giriwar school ghat in Daltonganj Friday evening. It is known to all that ‘daura’ (basket of offerings) are carried head load but never on tractor trolley. However, the appearance of tractor trolley in the crowd on Friday evening gathering at these ghats in Daltonganj left everyone concerned.
The Deputy Commissioner Palamu Manoj Kumar when apprised of the fact was taken aback and asked How did it happenIJ ‘What were the officials doingIJ’ He quipped further. Thelawalas with their gas burners, burning stoves on the flank of the road near the ghats were also allowed in crowd of religious
significance. There were about a dozen thela walas for serving hot samosas, pakoras and other eatables. In case of any untoward incident things might have turned worse with these fire equipments around. Also, hundreds of men and women watched the Chhath festival rituals from the railing of the Daltonganj Shahpur bridge on the river Koyal. The railing is more than two decades old and is wearing out at places. Any pressure on it may prove risky as it may give in said sources.
Men and women almost threw all their weight on these time worn railings by just bending too much on it. DC Palamu Manoj Kumar said he would take inputs from his officers in all these points.