An inquiry into the stampede at Mithibai College during a college fest last month is likely to begin in the next two days, a member of the committee formed to probe the incident said on Monday.
Eight students were injured in a stampede during Colosseum, the annual festival of the Bachelors of Management Studies department, on December 20.
A week after the incident, the Mumbai University formed a three-member committee comprising Senate member Sudhakar Tamboli, Guru Nanak College principal Dr. Vijay Dabholkar and Pragati College principal Dr. A. P. Mahajan to conduct an inquiry into the stampede. Mithibai College also formed an internal committee to launch a probe into the incident.
Important questions
However, the three-member committee could not start its inquiry as the dates of availability of the three members and the authorities concerned did not match. Mr. Tamboli said, “We have finally arrived at mutually convenient dates and are likely to visit the college in the next two days. We will be looking into the sequence of that day’s event, the footfall, how the stampede took place, whose fault it was and how an incident of this nature could be avoided in the future. We will be talking to students who were present at the venue, injured students, faculty members and the festival management to understand their versions and how the festival was organised.”
Mr. Tamboli said the committee would submit the report to the affiliation department. Despite repeated attempts, Rajpal Hande, principal of Mithibai College could not be reached for comment on the probe.
