Editorial: Bihar temple stampede — no act of fate

The death of seven people near Ashok Dham Temple in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district is a stark reminder that it is not miracles but proper planning and crowd management that save lives

The death of seven people in a stampede near Ashok Dham Temple in Bihar’s Lakhisarai district serves as yet another grim reminder of the serious gaps in our crowd management systems, safety protocols, and emergency preparedness. Temple stampedes in India are not random acts of fate. They are usually predictable crowd disasters produced by a combination of excessive density, constrained movement, poor anticipation, inadequate infrastructure and a failure to intervene before the crowd becomes unstable. The disturbing part is that India has known this for decades. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has detailed guidelines for mass gatherings, while the Home Ministry has repeatedly advised States to prepare crowd-management SOPs and checklists. Yet the same failures recur. The Bihar tragedy unfolded amid a heavy rush of worshippers who had gathered at the temple on the third Monday of the month of Sawan. An unprecedented surge of devotees led to a barricade collapsing outside the Indramaneshwar Temple in Ashok Dham, one of the oldest Shiva temples in Bihar. An estimated 50,000 people had gathered at the temple when the tragedy struck. The pattern of stampede incidents in India has been disturbingly familiar. So are the responses that follow. Compensation is announced, a probe is ordered, and a few officials are suspended amid a political blame game. And no lessons are learned from past mistakes. It’s business as usual until the next tragedy strikes.

This has been the story of all recent stampede cases. More than a decade ago, the NDMA released a guide on managing crowds at big events and mass gathering venues. The document emphasised capacity planning, crowd control, risk assessment, and real-time surveillance to prevent any mishaps. However, the guidelines are observed more in the breach than in practice. Inadequate infrastructure, disregard for scientific protocols, a lack of accountability, and a reactive approach to disasters continue to be significant obstacles. The Bihar temple stampede is the latest in a series of such stampede deaths. In 2005, over 265 people died in a stampede at Mandhardevi temple in Maharashtra; 145 devotees died in Himachal Pradesh’s Naina Devi temple in 2008; over 250 worshippers were killed in Rajasthan’s Chamunda Devi temple in 2008; over 115 died in Madhya Pradesh’s Ratangarh temple in 2013 and at least 30 devotees died at Prayag Kumbh Mela in January 2025, the sixth stampede during the Kumbh Mela in 70 years. In the same month, at least six people were killed in a stampede near Tirumala temple. Every stampede is a stark reminder that it is not miracles but proper planning and crowd management protocols that will save us. Adequate deployment of security personnel to regulate crowd movement and meticulous planning of the arrangements are prerequisites for preventing untoward incidents. Repeated temple stampedes should be viewed not as unavoidable accidents or acts of fate, but primarily as failures of risk assessment.

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