Santa believes the Kedarnath trek has been spared from stampedes due to divine blessings. Banta shatters this illusion with a grim analogy, arguing that the state has been playing Russian Roulette with pilgrim safety and its luck just ran out at Mansa Devi.
Crowd dynamics on high-altitude treks
The High-Altitude Traffic Jam
Santa humorously compares the crowded Yamunotri trek to a busy city market, but Banta turns the analogy on its head. He grimly lists the “threat multipliers” like exhaustion, landslides, and lack of medical care that make this high-altitude traffic jam infinitely more dangerous.