5 Kanwariya pilgrims electrocuted to death, several injured in UP’s Bhawanpur

 

New Delhi: Five people were electrocuted to death and as many injured in a tragic accident involving a religious procession in Western Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Saturday. The incident took place in Bhawanpur’s Rali Chauhan village in Meerut district, where a group of Kanwariyas, devout followers of Lord Shiva, were returning with water from the Holy Ganges River in Haridwar.

As their vehicle, playing celebratory music, entered the village, it brushed against a dangerously low-hanging high-tension line. The high-voltage current charged the vehicle and into the gathered crowd, knocking down the devotees one after the other before anyone could react. Chaos ensued, with villagers calling the power station to shut down the electricity supply, but for many, it was too late. One of the pilgrims, identified as Manish, was declared dead at the scene. Four others have since died from their injuries, while five more victims are being treated in various hospitals in the region. The condition of two victims is still reported to be critical.

The tragedy triggered a wave of anger among the villagers, who blocked a road in protest. They demanded immediate action against the electricity department officials for their negligence that led to the fatal accident. ‘The accident was a result of negligence in the preparation for the Kanwar Yatra’, said a local resident, voicing the sentiment of many villagers. The villagers’ demand for accountability and justice underscored the tension in the aftermath of the tragedy.

The Kanwar Yatra is the largest religious gathering in India, drawing an estimated 10 to 12 million participants each year from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh Odisha, and Jharkhand. The pilgrims, known as Kanwariyas, dress in saffron attire, often walking barefoot alongside vehicles on highways in a show of devotion. In a similar incident, seven people, including two children, were killed and 16 others injured after a religious ‘rath’ or chariot came into contact with an overhead high-voltage electric wire in Tripura’s Unakoti district last month.