Haldwani (Uttarakhand) [India], July 28 : Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Monday said that in the aftermath of the Mansa Devi Temple stampede, the state administration is reviewing the carrying capacities of the places and working on the crowd and traffic management in order to avoid stampede situations in the future.
Expressing grief over the incident, CM Dhami extended condolences to the families of the deceased.
"It was a very unfortunate incident. I pray to God to give strength to the families who lost their loved ones in this incident. We will ensure that devotees are sent to any place according to the carrying capacity of that place. We will also ensure widening of roads, traffic management..." he said.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the stampede incident that occured at the Mansa Devi temple on Sunday morning has risen to 8. The total number of injured has been reported to be 30, according to Haridwar District Administration.
The incident occurred around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, when a large crowd of devotees was climbing nearly 800 steps to reach the hilltop shrine, according to officials.
Upon receiving the information, personnel from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the fire brigade arrived at the scene and initiated rescue operations.
Earlier, Chief Minister Dhami ordered a magisterial inquiry and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also expressed grief over the loss of lives and announced Rs 2 lakh financial aid for families of the deceased from Uttar Pradesh.
President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and several other leaders also expressed deep sorrow over the tragic loss of lives.