lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung has sought a thorough summary from the Revenue Department on the 20 deaths in the course of immersion of Ganesha idols in the Yamuna River. Delhi Police had earlier predicated that the tragedy could have been averted by civic agencies if they had planned well in advance.
Meanwhile, the Revenue Department officials held Delhi Police liable for handling the issue dismissively and not sending a request for backup of divers, guards and lifeboats. The Revenue Department officials say that eight people have been rescued so far and 13 bodies have been fished out of the choppy waters but Delhi Police’s fatality figure stands at 20.
The Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) Dharampal told The Pioneer that the lieutenant-Governor wants a threadbare summary on the devotees swept away. There is apparent incongruity however, between statistics alluded to by the Revenue Department and the Delhi Police. “The Revenue Department was not in receipt of any request from Delhi Police seeking volunteers, divers and rescue boats during immersion. Neither the Flood and Irrigation Department nor the Deputy Commissioner (East) office — a nodal agency — had received any notification for buttressing. In fact, Delhi Police had issued a request to the Deputy Commissioner (North) which has nothing to do with it,” said Dharampal, adding that the Revenue Department has been made the fall guy. “Crowd management is the duty of Delhi Police, not the Delhi Government,” he stated.
Officials of the Revenue Department say that they are preparing a detailed dossier with video evidence to produce before the lieutenant-Governor. “It’s a collective failure. Delhi Police cannot scapegoat the Revenue Department. The Department has taken suo moto action and deployed volunteers, divers and 10 rescue boats,” added officials.
Delhi Police contends that the tragedy that took 20 lives on Wednesday evening could have been forestalled had civic agencies had the foresight.
It was Delhi Police that summoned 25 divers to search for the missing devotees while agencies of the Delhi Government and the Municipal Corporations did zilch.
There were no lifeboats, guards, lighting or demarcation points that could have helped the faithful halt at a certain point at the ghats. It was the groundswell of devotees to immerse the idols that led to them drowning.
A senior Delhi Police officer who oversaw the rescue ops was incensed with the allegations since it was Delhi Police that pooled in resources to rescue people from drowning and was instrumental in stemming the tide of drunken lumpen who had gathered at the various ghats as adherents of Ganesha.
The swelling crowd and arbitrarily parked vehicles had choked Ring Road leading to chaos on radial roads that lasted over five hours. The domino effect was felt on other roads as well, a police official said.