At least 46 people have died in various parts of the eastern Indian state of Bihar while taking a holy bath in rivers and ponds during the celebration of the ancient Hindu festival ‘Jeevitputrika’.
On Thursday, a Bihar government official said that 37 children and seven women were among the dead. In the last 24 hours, their lives have been drowned in different areas of the state.
An official of Bihar’s disaster management department told French news agency AFP that 46 people drowned in separate incidents while bathing in rivers and ponds overflowing in recent floods.
Declining to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media, he said people had ignored warnings about dangerous water levels in rivers and ponds while taking a bath to celebrate the festival.
Drowning cases of these people have been recorded since Tuesday across 15 districts of Bihar state.
Every year, Hindu mothers celebrate ‘Jitiya’ or ‘Jeevitputrika’ festival to wish for the well-being and prosperity of their children. This three-day festival is usually celebrated on the seventh to ninth day of Krishna Paksha in the month of Ashwin. During this time, mothers fast for the well-being of their children. Later mothers went to bathe in different rivers, ponds and reservoirs with their children.
The official said that the authorities are working to recover the bodies of three more. The state government has announced compensation to the families of each of the victims. According to Hindustan Times, due to heavy rains, there is a strong flow of water in almost all the rivers of Bihar. Children and others were washed away in that stream.
State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed deep grief over the loss of lives across the state during the Jitiya festival. He said that each of the victims will be given four lakh rupees by the state government.
Fatal accidents at temples often occur during major Hindu religious festivals in India. At different times in the country, incidents of stampede occur during religious festivals or worship.
Last July, at least 116 people were killed in a stampede at a Hindu religious gathering in the country’s Uttar Pradesh state. It was the deadliest accident in more than a decade.
Apart from this, India experiences heavy rains and flash floods every year during the monsoon season. Last July, more than 200 people lost their lives in landslides triggered by heavy rains in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
