The Pulmedu stampede that claimed 102 lives on January 14 was triggered by an altercation between a few pilgrims and a driver of a vehicle operating in the area, stated the Kerala Forest Department in a report to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, New Delhi.
The report was submitted to the Authority on Tuesday. The forest route where the stampede occurred was within the territorial jurisdiction of the West Division of the Periyar Tiger Reserve.
In the report, the department justified its decision to allow vehicles and pilgrims through the forest routes. Temporary permission was granted for vehicles to operate on the route, which was in the buffer area of the Reserve.
According to the report, tourism and other human activities, including pilgrimage, were permitted only in the buffer zone of the Reserve extending up to 44 sq. km. The total extent of the reserve is 925 sq. km.
The report noted that there were around 1.25 lakh pilgrims on the forest route at the time of the accident on Makaravilakku.
The department had earlier estimated that 1,210 vehicles passed through its Vallakadavu check-post to transport pilgrims on that day.
The altercation between the pilgrims and the driver created a temporary obstruction on the path. The pressure exerted by those who lined up from the hillock and the temporary obstruction resulted in the stampede.
As the situation turned uncontainable, the Forest officials who were on duty and the members of the Eco Development Committees and volunteers removed the temporary stalls that were set up on both the flanks of the route to provide more room for the pilgrims. The timely act helped in reducing the casualties, the report stated.
The report was also critical of the delay in developing the base camp at Sathram, which was mentioned in the Sabarimala master plan. According to the schedule, the base camp was to be developed in the first phase of the project and completed by 2010. The forest routes could be closed if the camp was developed as envisaged in the plan, the report said. The department had to temporarily open the forest routes for vehicular traffic and use of pilgrims as it provided the facility for the pilgrims earlier also. The government had also suggested that the forest routes be opened till the development of the Sathram camp.
