PANJIM, May 3 -- Team Herald

The State administration has come under heavy criticism from the Opposition and civil society for its failure to control the crowd at the Shirgao zatra, which resulted in a deadly stampede early Saturday morning, claiming six lives and leaving over 70 injured.

While the opposition has squarely blamed the administration and the police for the tragedy, the Shree Lairai Temple managing committee has given the authorities a clean chit and instead attributed the chaos to the unruly behaviour of Dhonds (devotees who undertake the pilgrimage on foot).

Temple managing committee chairman Dinanath 'Dina' Gaonkar maintained that the stampede was solely due to the conduct of the Dhonds. "The government, police departme...