Kolkata: Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday attacked the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh (UP) government over the stampede death calling the spiritual congregation in Prayagraj, ‘Maha Kumbh’ has turned into “Mrityu Kumbh” (Kumbh of death).
Banerjee alleged that while VIPs were given special privileges the poor were denied access to essential facilities. She also said that the UP administration lacked proper planning and only hype was given.
“I will not call it a Maha Kumbh. It has now become a Mrityu Kumbh. It is like a death pit. I respect the Maha Kumbh and have reverence for it. I respect the holy Ganga Maa. However, there was no planning for it and only hype. 30 people have died - is it right? How many dead bodies have been immersed in the river? Thousands! Fire has broken out 8 times,” Chief Minister Banerjee said in the Assembly.
She further stated: “Lakhs have been spent on camps for the rich and the VIPs. However, the poor are being charged Rs 2,000 for sitting on mats after standing in long lines for over 15-20 hours. A cup of tea is being charged Rs 500 to 2,000. The place allocated for these people to take a holy dip is different from the one for the VIPs. They have polluted and poisoned the holy place of Maha Kumbh.”
Banerjee also alleged that for the rich and the VIPs, there are systems available to get tents for as high as Rs 1 lakh. For the poor, there are no arrangements at Kumbh. She also alleged that even the postmortem was not conducted on the pilgrims from Bengal who died in a stampede in Kumbh.
“Many people died in the Maha Kumbh stampede. No postmortem was done by them on the people from Bengal who died in the stampede. Bodies were handed over to the victims’ relatives without the death certificates. We have performed their postmortem here. How could they provide compensation when the death certificates were not issued by the UP Government?” Banerjee asked.
Banerjee also questioned the role of the Central government asking as to how many commissions were sent to Maha Kumbh to probe the incident. She alleged that despite appeals the Central government has not given any support for constructing a bridge in Ganga Sagar where crores of devotees visit at the time of Makar Sankranti.