IN GOA, A STAMPEDE AND SCREAMS BEFORE SUNRISE

Over a lakh devotees gathered for north Goa's annual Lairai jatra, a procession held in Shirgao village, leading to the Shree Lairai Devi temple. Then, there was a mishap on the steep hill; a rope barricade was broken, and chaos ensued. Within a few minutes, six were dead and over 80 injured in a stampede that now has the State administration and the temple committee arguing over who was at fault and who should govern the religious institution

- finds Purnima Sah

On May 2, Sonia Nandadurgi's son, Sagar Shivkumar Nandadurgi, 31, a devotee of Goddess Lairai, boarded a bus with six friends from Piligao village to Shirgao village, 13 kilometres away. Here, in north Goa's Bicholim taluka, is the Shree Lairai Devi temple, where every year in April or May, people flock for rituals that culminate in the lighting of a bonfire from which coals are raked and devotees called dhonds walk over.

Waving to his mother and uncles, he promised to be home the next morning after walking on agnidivya (embers). The next morning, at 6 a.m., Sagar's three uncles learnt from their neighbours that he and five others had died in a stampede at the temple.

Sagar's funeral rites were performed on May 3. Since then, politicians and State administration officials have been streaming into the two-room house, offering their condolences. On May 4, the Governor of Goa, P.S. Sreedharan Pillai, visited the family. Sagar's uncle and neighbour, Sainath Kavlekar, 45, says until May 9, the family had not received the postmortem report.

Sixty-year-old Sonia's home is surrounded by jackfruit, cashew, coconut, and mango trees. There is a tulsi planted in a mound of red earth at the entrance. The house used to be kuccha; Sagar had recently plastered it with cement, she says.

Family members who live in the area say he wanted to paint the house and also replace the tin-sheet roof with a pucca one. At home, surrounding an anachronistic TV set on a wooden table are the many awards that Sagar had won in school, college, and at work for his performance. His spectacles, office bag, and medals all hang from walls and doors. Sagar had worked for Tirumala Bank's loan recovery department, the stable job helping him and his mother build a better financial life.