Man has the capacity to plan and stand up to nature's fury, as we have seen in the case of Phailin cyclone. The effort has been so remarkable that less than two dozen lives were lost.
But we are unable to face self-created disasters. Pilgrimage disasters are neither the will of god nor retribution of nature. The temple tragedy in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, which claimed more than 100 lives, is an example of human failure.
All religious sites that draw large number of devotees, should be covered under the National Disaster Management Authority regime, so that the lives of pilgrims are protected in case of unforeseen incidents like stampedes. A list of such places and the standard operating procedures must be put in place. The district officials responsible for the task must be identified and held accountable. There is no point in gloating over effectively countering natural calamities like cyclones and flash floods if we are unable to pre-empt or tackle man-made tragedies.