'Everything was over before we could realize what happened'

VANDIPERIYAR/ KUMILY: A treacherous mountain path that even jeeps struggle to negotiate, vehicles parked at a vantage point flouting rules with impunity and an unprecedented rush to witness the Makara Jyothi.
Tragedy was waiting to happen at Sabarimala, say locals. And it did on Friday, killing 102.
The day after, grieving relatives and local people blamed authorities and public apathy for the tragedy on the grasslands at Pulmedu in Uppupara, forming part of Periyar Tiger Reserve, in Idukki district of Kerala.
"Authorities should not have allowed people to use the three metre wide road inside the tiger reserve. Else, they should have built proper communication and other facilities,” said Praveen, an eyewitness, from Belgaum.
As there is no other route, devotees take the 28-km stretch from Vandiperiyar to Pulmedu, from where the Jyothi flickering in the woods is seen unhindered. From Pulmedu the Sabarimala temple is 9 km by foot. The annual pilgrimage to the famed shrine was smooth since it started in November.
On Friday night everything was fine till, as an eyewitness recounted, some autorickshaw drivers called people returning downhill after seeing the Jyothi for a trip to Kumily, a town 40 km from Pulmedu.
"There was a mad scramble and over 20 people squeezed into a single autorickshaw," said Praveen. "The vehicle could not carry their weight and overturned," he added.
What followed was horrible. "Pilgrims fell over each other. There was no way people coming from behind could stop. They trampled those on the ground," said Dundappa. He and 26 others had come on a pilgrimage; six of them died.
"Some ran helter skelter and plunged into the woods below while others tripped over iron chains fastened on either side of the road by the forest department to prevent people from entering the woods," he added."Everything was over before we could realize what happened," said Praveen.
Hours later, the ill-fated autorickshaw shoved beside a run down jeep in the midst of ruins, bags and utensils strewn all over the hillock and the virgin grasslands wearing a deserted look told the story. But for some policemen trying to gather forensic evidence no one was around. Even petty traders who choked the narrow road fled fearing a crackdown.
"Entry is officially restricted to Pulmedu, but with hardly any checks in place pilgrims park their vehicles here to see the Jyothi," said a local.
"Police limiting access to Sabarimala temple due to the unprecedented rush also caused overcrowding at Uppupara,"
the local added.
The injured were initially admitted at a hospital in Vandiperiyar before being shifted to Kottayam medical college hospital. The dead were taken to Kumily on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border for post-mortem.
Some people were upset with the goings on at primary health centre at Kumily "The state government just wants our money," fumed Narasimha, from Medak in Andhra Pradesh, who fought with hospital staff because of delay in sending back bodies of friends. A father-son duo in Narasimha’s group had died.