Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of two devotees who died while undergoing treatment after falling ill during a stampede-like situation that occurred during the annual Rath Yatra in Puri on July 16.
The deceased were identified as Anil Das of Cuttack and Ashok Subare Raikar of Mumbai. Both reportedly experienced severe breathlessness amid the massive crowd near Marichikot Chhak on the Grand Road (Bada Danda) during the festival. They were admitted to the Puri District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), where they later succumbed to their ailments while undergoing treatment.
Announcing the ex gratia, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said in a post on X that Majhi had expressed profound grief over the deaths and sanctioned Rs 10 lakh each from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) for the next of kin of the deceased.
The stampede-like situation unfolded on July 16 near Marichikot Chhak, around 100 feet from a police cordon, as thousands of devotees converged on the Grand Road to witness the annual Rath Yatra. The two devotees reportedly collapsed after experiencing severe breathlessness in the densely packed crowd.
Besides the two fatalities, several devotees sustained injuries in the incident, which cast a shadow over one of the country’s largest religious gatherings.
