meenchehv hahstuh pahragnah
pahrageen hohkeen gehlah

Until the fat man becomes thin, the thin man will give up his soul

Sacrifice for one who has alot of means is bearable. But for those who have very little means, it is life threatening.

The following is an article about a tragic event in South India. People who were devastated by the Tsunami and later by a downpour flood were seeking relief aid and became victims of yet another tragedy.

“THEY CAME in droves seeking relief for a tragedy. But became victims of another tragedy instead. In the second incident of its kind, 42 people were killed and 37 injured in a stampede at a corporation school here on Sunday morning in a rush to collect coupons for flood relief.

Six people had died and 20 injured in a similar stampede in North Chennai on November 6. The tragedy took place at 5 am, when over 4,500 who had gathered outside a school in MGR Nagar rushed to the building after a sudden downpour, smashing the police cordon. Several people, mostly women, were crushed in the chaos as people slipped in the slush and fell on one another, eyewitnesses said.

The people had apparently started gathering at the venue as early as 3 am. “There was no need for people to come in so early during the day when it had been announced that relief distribution would begin from 9 am,” chief minister Jayalalithaa told the media after visiting the injured at the hospital.

Attributing the stampede to rumours about selective relief spread by mischief-mongers, she ordered a judicial probe by a retired high court judge. “We had made elaborate arrangement by restricting the number of relief-seekers to 500 at each of the nine counters and deployed heavy security. It was announced that everyone would get relief,” she said.

Jayalalithaa announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh each to the kin of the victims and Rs 15,000 to each to the injured.

On Saturday, 3,452 families were issued coupons in the school and it was announced on the public address system that over 4,500 families would be given coupons from 9 am on Sunday, Jayalalithaa said.

The coupons were to be distributed at the ration shops, but the authorities shifted the venue to the school since the shops were located on narrow lanes. Saroja, a local resident, who survived the stampede, said everything was organised till the downpour, when people scurried for shelter in a school building.

The site of the stampede is near a police booth. What is intriguing is that the police allowed the people to gather at the odd hour. Eyewitnesses said the tragedy could have been avoided if enough police personnel were deployed in front of the school.”

Hindustan Times
Dash for relief kills 42 in TN
G.C. Shekhar
Chennai, December 18, 2005