2005 December Chennai stampede
13°2′4″N 80°11′49″E / 13.03444°N 80.19694°E / 13.03444; 80.19694
The 2005 December Chennai stampede incident happened on 18 December 2005 in a school at MGR Nagar in Chennai, the capital of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where the relief supplies were distributed by the state government for the people affected by severe flooding. There were 42 deaths in the accident, which left another 37 injured. The state government appointed a one-man commission under retired justice A. Raman to look into the enquiry. The state government also announced a compensation of ₹100,000 for all the victims and ₹15,000 for the injured.
During 2005, there were heavy rains in Tamil Nadu and its coastal areas were flooded. Many people were rendered homeless by flooding during November and December. Relief measures were announced by the government that necessitated collecting tokens from authorities in different centres across the city.
Background
During 2005, there were heavy rains in Chennai and the surrounding areas that resulted in severe flooding. Most coastal areas of the state were flooded.[1] Many people were rendered homeless by the floods during the months of November and December. Relief measures were announced by the government that necessitated collecting tokens from authorities in different centres across the city. The government centres were distributing ₹ 2,000, 10 kg of rice, dhotis and saris to the people affected by the floods.[2] The relief measures were to be originally distributed from the ration shop in the area, but the street being narrow, the venue was changed to Arignar Anna Government School. On Saturday 17 December 2005, the day before the accident, 3,452 families were issued tokens and the authorities were planning to distribute for 4,5000 families on Sunday. The announcement was made with the help of public addressing system.[3]
The accident
On 18 December 2005, Sunday, around 4,500 people were gathered around the Arignar Anna Government High school in MGR Nagar where the tokens to the relief measures were about to be distributed for people under the jurisdiction of three ration shops.[4] The people assembled from 3 a.m., while the relief was planned to be distributed at 9 a.m. There was a sudden downpour at 3:45 a.m., and there were rumours that the relief measures would be given only on first come first basis to 1,000 families. At around 4 a.m, people broke through the cordons set up by police to enter the building. There was a concrete slope at the entrance and people at the front end of the queue slipped and others stumbled over them. The gates were closed with difficulty, but by then the stampede caused 42 deaths and 37 injuries.[1][4] Eyewitness claimed that the sudden downpour resulted in chaos in the area. The police were few in number to control the large crowd.[2] They also claimed that the police controlling the crowd early during the day would have averted the situation.[3][4]
Aftermath
The stampede is counted among the twenty deadliest stampedes during the period of 1968–2005.[5] The President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, condoled the death of the people who lost their lives in the tragedy. On account of the poor lighting and rain, the rescue personnel found it difficult to reach the spot. The crowd did not disperse without understanding the seriousness of the situation and only left after an announcement was made that the distribution would be made at their doors. Umbrellas, footwear and ration cards were strewn all over the place.[4] Sixteen of the injured were admitted to the government hospital and eleven, including six women, were admitted to the Royapettah Government Hospital.[6] The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa visited the injured in the hospital. During her interaction with the media after her hospital visit, she said that this might have been the handiwork of some of the miscreants trying to tarnish the image of the government. She stated that "There was no need for people to come in so early during the day when it had been announced that relief distribution would begin from 9 am. We had made elaborate arrangement by restricting the number of relief-seekers to 500 at each of the nine counters and deployed heavy security. It was announced that everyone would get relief,".[3] The Tamil Nadu police said that it was raining heavily during the distribution of relief supplies. The state government also announced a compensation of ₹one lakh for all the victims and ₹ 15,000 for the injured.[1] The leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party Muthuvel Karunanidhi, accused the government of buying votes by distributing freebies for the forthcoming elections. He also added that it was the poor administration of the government that resulted in the tragedy.[2] His son, M. K. Stalin, an MLA from the DMK party, accused the government of not setting up a committee to monitor the relief measures.[3] As a mark of respect to those who died in the accident, the shops in the area closed at 2 p.m. on the day.[7]
Investigation
The police arrested Dhanasekaran, the areas' councillor who belonged to the opposing DMK party, on 20 December 2005 on charges of spreading rumours.[8] He was charged under IPC sections 120-B for criminal conspiracy, 147 for punishment for rioting, 304 for punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, 109 for abetment, 323 for voluntarily causing hurt and 325 voluntarily causing grievous hurt.[9][10] It was alleged that he and his supporters roamed around the previous evening announcing that Sunday would be the last day and token distribution would begin by 5 a.m.[10] He argued in a lower court that he was politically targeted and the tragedy was because of an administrative failure. He quoted the transfer of Chennai collector and police officials involved in the case to support his argument. He was granted bail by the court on 26 December.[11] He was charged in Goodas Act before the court could grant bail. He was granted bail by the Madras High Court on 5 January.[12] The government filed a special leave petition against the order in the Supreme Court of India on 27 January 2006, but the court rejected the plea and accused the government of negligence. The court stated that "The incident occurred because of the negligence of your officers. This is not the first time that such an incident has happened in Tamil Nadu. Repeatedly, it is happening in Tamil Nadu for such petty things,". The court also noted that "The incident was because of the officers not making preparations for providing flood relief".[13] M. Karunanidhi, in a statement, claimed that it was a moral victory for the party against the hate campaign run by Jayalalitha and her All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (ADMK) government. He said "The Supreme Court, which was approached by the same government, has blamed the Jayalalithaa regime for the stampede. The Supreme Court judges after hearing the two sides has said that DMK Councillor Dhanasekharan was not the reason behind the stampede, but only the Tamil Nadu Government,".[14] The state government appointed a one-man commission under retired justice A Raman to enquire the incident.[1] The terms of the commission were notified on 20 December 2013 by the government that instructed the commission to probe the alleged rumours, circumstances leading to the stampede, find any shortcomings of issue of tokens and ways to avoid such incidents in future.[15] Dhanasekaran sought a stay on the proceedings of the commission quoting "Witnesses are being examined at an amazing speed, and about 35 witnesses were examined on a single day. The main aim for constituting the Commission is to divert attention on the inefficient handling of flood relief by the State Government, and to obtain a report that absolves the Government of all liability. The Commission is proceeding at such a speed that it would release a report before the coming Assembly polls on May 8".[16]
See also
- 2005 November Chennai Stampede
- 2005 Chennai floods
Notes
- ^ a b c d "Tamil Nadu appoints Commission to look into Chennai stampede deaths". Hindustan Times. Chennai, India. 20 December 2005. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ a b c S., Senthil Kumar; Shukla, Saurabh (2 January 2006). "Compunding the Tragedy, King's Gambit, Object of Desire". India Today. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d "Dash for relief kills 42 in TN". Hindustan Times. Chennai, India. 19 December 2005. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ a b c d "42 killed in Chennai stampede". The Hindu. Chennai. 19 December 2005. Archived from the original on 21 December 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ Coppola 2005, p. 105
- ^ "45 killed in Chennai flood relief camp stampede". The Times of India. Chennai. 18 December 2005. Archived from the original on 5 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
- ^ K.T., Sangameswaran; Doraisamy, Vani (19 December 2006). "For residents of MGR Nagar, a Black Sunday". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 January 2008. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "One arrested in Chennai stampede case". The Times of India. 20 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "DMK Councillor held in stampede case seeks bail". Chennai: Outlook India. 22 December 2005. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ a b K.T., Sangameswaran; P., Oppilli (21 December 2005). "DMK councillor held in stampede case". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 23 December 2005. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "DMK councillor granted bail in stampede case". The Times of India. 26 December 2005. Archived from the original on 7 February 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "Court slams Tamil Nadu government for stampede deaths". Hindustan Times. Chennai, India. 27 January 2006. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "Supreme Court pulls up Tamil Nadu Government for Chennai stampede". Hindustan Times. Chennai, India. 27 January 2006. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "Supreme Court judgment on stampede case our first victory, says DMK Chief". Hindustan Times. Chennai, India. 29 January 2006. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "Probe terms notified". The Hindu. 20 December 2005. Archived from the original on 18 October 2007. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
- ^ "Stay Justice Raman panel proceedings: councillor". The Hindu. 11 April 2006. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
References
- Coppola, Damon P. (2006). Introduction to International Disaster Management. Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 9780080465739.
- v
- t
- e
- 1807 Newgate Prison
- 1823 Valletta
- 1876 Brooklyn Theatre
- 1883 Victoria Hall
- 1896 Khodynka
- 1902 Shiloh Baptist Church
- 1903 Iroquois Theatre
- 1908 Barnsley Hall
- 1913 Italian Hall
- 1927 Laurier Palace
- 1943 Bethnal Green
- 1946 Burnden Park
- 1954 Kumbh Mela
- 1964 Estadio Nacional
- 1965 El Progreso Bullring
- 1967 Atatürk Stadium
- 1971 Ibrox
- 1974 Zamalek
- 1977 Xinjiang 61st Regiment Farm
- 1979 The Who concert
- 1981 Karaiskakis Stadium
- 1982 Luzhniki
- 1985 Heysel Stadium
- 1987 Shanghai Lujiazui
- 1988 Dasharath Stadium
- 1989 Tbilisi
- 1989 Hillsborough
- 1990 Mecca
- 1991 Oppenheimer Stadium
- 1992 Mahamaham
- 1992 Bastia
- 1993 Lan Kwai Fong
- 1994 Mecca
- 1994 Gowari
- 1996 Haridwar and Ujjain
- 1997 Uphaar Cinema
- 1998 Mecca
- 1999 Sabarimala
- 1999 Nyamiha (Minsk)
- 2000 Durban
- 2001 Mecca
- 2001 Ellis Park Stadium
- 2001 Accra Sports Stadium
- 2001 Akashi pedestrian bridge
- 2003 E2 nightclub
- 2003 The Station nightclub
- 2004 Mecca
- 2004 Miyun
- 2005 Mandher Devi temple
- 2005 Al-Aaimmah bridge
- 2005 Chennai (November)
- 2005 Chennai (December)
- 2006 Mecca
- 2006 PhilSports Stadium
- 2008 Bandung
- 2008 Naina Devi temple
- 2008 Jodhpur
- 2009 Houphouët-Boigny
- 2009 Mawazine
- 2010 Kor Royal Cup
- 2010 Pratapgarh
- 2010 Love Parade
- 2010 Phnom Penh
- 2011 Sabarimala
- 2012 Port Said Stadium
- 2012 Satsanga Deoghar
- 2013 Houphouët-Boigny
- 2013 Kiss nightclub
- 2013 Kumbh Mela
- 2013 Madhya Pradesh
- 2014 Mumbai
- 2014 Stade Tata Raphaël
- 2014 Patna
- 2014 Multan
- 2014 Kwekwe
- 2014 Shanghai Bund
- 2015 30 June Stadium
- 2015 Haiti
- 2015 Mina
- 2015 Colectiv nightclub
- 2017 Turin
- 2017 Mumbai
- 2018 Caracas
- 2018 Corinaldo
- 2019 Antananarivo
- 2019 Karbala
- 2019 Caracas
- 2020 Kerman
- 2020 Maligawatta
- 2020 Los Olivos
- 2021 Meron
- 2021 Astroworld Festival
- 2022 Vaishno Devi Temple
- 2022 Yaoundé
- 2022 Port Harcourt
- 2022 GBLA Stadium
- 2022 Giza
- 2022 Kanjuruhan Stadium
- 2022 Seoul
- 2023 Basra International Stadium
- 2023 Pakistan
- 2023 Sanaa
- 2023 San Salvador
- 2023 Brazzaville
- 2024 Hathras