India's Kumbh Mela festival to open amid stamped fears
India
India's mass Hindu pilgrimage, the Kumbh Mela, officially starts in Maharashtra state Tuesday, with organisers desperate to avoid a repeat of a deadly stampede at the same venue 12 years ago.
"We have learnt lessons from that stampede and have changed the route for the 'Shahi Snan' (main dip) to avoid tight alleys and steep slopes to the bathing ghats (steps leading to the river)," Nashik district information officer K. Moghe told AFP.
"We have also widened the bathing ghats in Nashik and Trimbakeshwar to provide more space and avoid over-crowding. That should prevent the major triggers for a stampede," he added.
The deadly crush at Nashik was believed to have been triggered when a sadhu, or holy man, threw coins into a crowd of pilgrims who were waiting on the river banks.
Tens of thousands of the devotees, forced to stand behind barricades, were reportedly getting increasingly restless while having to wait for their holy dip.
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