The New Delhi Railway Station stampede of February 15, which caused 18 fatalities, was triggered due to a "big headload falling from one of the passengers", claimed Indian Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav in Rajya Sabha on Friday. He also quoted findings of a high-level committee formed to investigate the stampede.
Vaishnav was responding to a question from Samajwadi Party MP Ramji Lal Suman about the current status of the investigating committee that was constituted to scrutinize the case. In a written reply, the minister stated that the stampede happened on the foot overbridge (FOB)-3 stairs that connect platforms 14 and 15 of the New Delhi Railway Station. He claimed that the administration ensured sufficient crowd management protocols to handle the passenger crowd at the station on February 15.
The reply read, "There was a gradual increase of passenger density on the FOB after 20.15 hours. Many of the passengers were carrying big headloads, affecting smooth movement on the FOB. A big headload fell from one of the passengers, and the pressure was passed on to the PF 14/15 stairs, resulting in the tripping of passengers on the stairs. This led to an incident at 20.48 hours on FOB-3, which was limited to the stairs of FOB. Consequently, passengers fell on each other. In the incident, 18 people lost their lives and 15 others were injured."
The Indian Railways had paid a compensation of Rs 2 crore to 33 victims and their family members. This includes Rs 10 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased, Rs 2.5 lakh to the ones gravely injured, and Rs 1 lakh to those with minor injuries.
Answering the corrective steps taken by the ministry, Vaishnav said that they have planned a series of measures to deal with the heavy crowd at railway stations. The ministry is going to create permanent holding areas at 73 identified stations that periodically face heavy crowds, such as New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Ayodhya, and Surat.
They also intend to have complete access control, which means only the passengers with confirmed reserved seats will have direct access to the platforms, while others will have to gather at the waiting area outside. And the unauthorized entry points will be sealed.