PIC: SAYANTAN GHOSH BHUBANESWAR  MONDAY  JUNE 30, 2025  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION RED ALERT IN MANY STATES AS MONSOON COVERS ENTIRE INDIA Southwest monsoon has covered entire country 9 days earlier than usual, bringing rain in Delhi and other northern states CLOUDBURST IN UTTARAKHAND KILLS TWO SHIMLA-KALKA RAIL LINE SUSPENDED The IMD has issued a red alert for heavy rainfall on June 29 and 30 in Uttarakhand, including Uttarkashi, Rudraprayag, Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri, Haridwar and Nainital. Authorities have put the Chardham yatra on hold for a day for the safety of pilgrims. A cloudburst in Uttarakhand’s Uttarkashi early Sunday left two construction workers dead ■ Services on the Shimla-Kalka rail line — a UNESCO world heritage — were suspended on Sunday after boulders and trees fell on the tracks following overnight rains in Solan. A bridge was also washed away ■ Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi, which has been experiencing rainfall since Sunday morning, is likely to receive heavy rain till July 2 June 26 IN 2020 WAS THE LAST TIME MONSOON HAD ARRIVED EARLIER THAN USUAL CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI THREE CRUSHED IN STAMPEDE AT PURI Maharashtra govt SEVERAL INJURED IN INCIDENT NEAR GUNDICHA TEMPLE; TRAGEDY WHEN TRUCKS ENTERED CROWDED AREA CM seeks forgiveness from devotees, cracks the whip on officers E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar Relatives of the deceased mourn the deaths in Puri (left-right); people gather near chariots of Lord Jagannath near Gundicha temple in Puri, on Sunday | PTI R A J K U M A R M O H A N T Y/A S I S H M E H TA @ Puri/ Bhubaneswar Deeply saddened by the tragic loss of lives in the unfortunate stampede at Puri. I pray to Mahaprabhu Jagannatha to give strength to those in mourning and bless the injured with a swift recovery Hari Babu Kambhampati, Governor Shocked and deeply saddened to learn about the stampede. The state government should carry out prompt and comprehensive enquiry and take proper steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents Gajapati Dibyasingha Deb, Puri king This tragedy is a serious warning – for such large events, security arrangements and crowd management preparations must be taken seriously and thoroughly reviewed. Protecting lives is paramount Rahul Gandhi, Sr Congress leader Rly reservation chart to be out 8 hours ahead of departure R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi AS part of its efforts to ease passenger comfort, the rail ministry is planning to release reservation charts eight hours prior to a train’s departure. Currently, the charts are released four hours before the scheduled departure. The new system is expected to come into effect from next month. Early preparation and release of charts will help passengers on waitlisted tickets know their status early enough to make alternative arrangements in case of nonconfirmation. The decision follows a series of meetings between railway officials and Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on how to improve ticket booking and t r av e l c o nv e n i e n c e f o r passengers. “To improve travel uncertainty, the rail ministry has proposed the new time frame to release the reservation chart, most likely to be implemented by July 1 or a few days late as it requires some technical modification in the system,” said a senior official, adding OTPbased authentication for Tatkal bookings will start on July 1. EXPRESS READ Govt sounds flood alert in Balasore & Mayurbhanj Bhubaneswar/Balasore: The state government on Sunday sounded a flood alert for Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts following incessant rains in Jharkhand | P4 THREE devotees, including two women, were killed and six others suffered injuries when a stampede-like situation broke out in front of Gundicha Temple in Puri here during the wee hours on Sunday . After chariot-pulling was completed as part of Rath Yatra, all three chariots were parked in front of the Gundicha temple when the incident took place between 3.30 am and 4.30 am. Two of the victims died at the spot while the third succumbed in the hospital. Six more injured have been admitted to the district headquarters hospital, Puri collector Sidharth Shankar Swain told mediapersons in the morning. The victims were identified as Basanti Sahu (36) of Bolagarh, Pravati Das (45) from Balipatna and Prema Kant Mohanty (78) belonged to Khurda. The incident took place when the morning ‘pahada’ lifting (opening for darshan) rituals were started leading to a sudden rush of devotees to catch a glimpse of the deities on the chariots. The gathering in front of Lord Jagannath’s chariot Nandighosa swelled and amid the push and pull, people started falling over each other. Eyewitness accounts said, two trucks entered the area to unload the ladder parts for fixing on the chariots to facilitate pahandi of the deities to the Gundicha temple. Devotees had to squeeze themselves to pave the way for the vehicles and the tragedy occurred. Expressing deep grief over the incident, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi sought forgiveness from devotees of Lord Jagannath for the loss of lives. He also directed a probe by development commissioner Anu Garg and announced a compensation of `25 lakh each for kin of the deceased persons. In the immediate shake-up, Puri collector Siddharth Shankar Swain and SP Vinit Agrawal were transferred, and DCP Bishnu Pati and Commandant Ajay Padhi suspended for the lapses. While Law minister Pritihiviraj Harichandan, the minister in charge of the Jagannath temple affairs, and temple administrator Arabinda Padhee were missing in action for the major part of the day DGP YB Khu, rania was rushed to Puri to manage the aftermath. This is the first incident of stampede deaths at the Gundicha temple in the entire history of Rath Yatra in Puri. As per traditions, the deities stay put on their chariots after reaching Gundicha temple overnight and are taken inside in a ceremonial pahandi procession the next day . People in large numbers flock the temple to have a glimpse of the deities and pay CONTINUED ON P5 obeisance to them. CHIEF Minister Mohan Charan Majhi offered personal apology and sought forgiveness from devotees for the tragic loss of lives outside the Gundicha temple due to the stampede in the wee hours on Sunday . He ordered an administrative probe into the incident while transferring Puri district collec- I have ordered tor Siddharth Shankar Swain a probe into and SP Vinit Agrawal and plac- the security ing two SP-rank officers DCP lapse, and necessary Bishnu Pati and commandant steps will be Ajay Padhi under suspension taken to for the lapses. The administra- ensure strict tive inquiry will be conducted and exemplary by development commissioner action against those Anu Garg. Stating that such negligence responsible which led to the incident was un- Mohan Charan pardonable, the chief minister Majhi, CM said necessary steps will be taken by the government to ensure strict exemplary action against those found responsible. “I have ordered a probe into the security lapse, and necessary steps will be taken to ensure strict and exemplary action against those found reCONTINUED ON P5 sponsible,” he said. rescinds orders on 3-language policy S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai THE Maharashtra government on Sunday decided to rescind the decision to introduce Hindi as a third language in primary schools, a move that was panned by opposition parties as part of ‘Hindi imposition’. Announcing the decision on Sunday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said: “The state cabinet has decided to withdraw the Government Resolutions issued in April and June regarding the implementation of the threelanguage policy from Class 1.” Following the announcement, the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirm a n S e n a a n d U d d h av Thackeray’s Shiv Sena (UBT) cancelled their protest march planned on July 5 against the earlier government orders on teaching Hindi in primary schools. Fadnavis said a committee headed by economist and writer Narendra Jadhav will be formed to study the three-language formula and submit a detailed report on whether it can be implemented in primary schools. Till then, the government orders about introducing Hindi as a third language stand cancelled, he said. “The decision of third language policy was accepted by former chief minister Uddhav Thackeray as it was recommended by scientist Raghunath Mashelkar. One Shiv Sena (UBT) member even said that Marathi, English, and Hindi should be made mandatory up to graduation level,” Fadnavis said, adding Uddhav wanted to implement the recommendations but later took a U-turn. Uddhav dismissed the claim, saying he had appointed a study group on Mashelkar panel suggestions, but the group did not hold even a single meeting Meanwhile, political observers said the move might dent Fadnavis’ image as he would now been seen as buckling under pressure.