The notoriety that India seems to have acquired over the decades for deadly stampedes, has once again been brought into focus. It should be a no-brainer to state the importance of efficient risk-mapping, crowd management and fool-proof security arrangements wherever people congregate in large numbers in a country of a billion-plus people. Yet, tragedy after deadly tragedy at such venues, mostly at religious events, has become a continuing story. The loss of 33 lives in the latest stampede during Dasara ceremonies at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan is but one more in the cavalcade. Given that it was an annual event that typically attracted lakhs of people, the lack of preparedness on the part of the administrative machinery is prima facie clear. Some accounts spoke of how, amazingly, only two of the 11 gates at the sprawling public grounds were kept open as the crowd was dispersing. Dusk had fallen and there was a power failure to boot. Sections of the crowd seemingly panicked over rumours of a snapped overhead power line. It was less than two years ago, during Chhath Puja celebrations in another part of Patna, that 21 people were killed in a stampede after a makeshift bridge collapsed. And it was a year ago, in October 2013, that a stampede in Madhya Pradesh left more than 110 people dead.
Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, who had just left after watching the epic re-enactment of the triumph of good over evil when the stampede occurred, was insensitive enough to tell a television channel that the crowds were also to blame for such incidents. Surprisingly, the Chief Minister went on to say, post-facto , that “there should be more entry and exit points in the ground.” Such imprudence apart, the spate of statements that have come from the political class over the weekend has shown nothing but a proclivity to indulge in a blame-game. That will hardly serve the public interest. Given the frequency of and the toll from such incidents, the Central government should advise States to put in place a mandatory security protocol to handle all large-scale crowd situations. Disaster preparedness has in recent years emerged as an area of priority, but in the case of known danger zones there does not seem to be a matching realisation that security arrangements to pre-empt tragedies are essential. Managing and regulating large crowds and avoiding overcrowding should be key elements of the strategy. Effective communication and security systems should serve to ensure that panic does not lead to uncontrolled crowd surges. In the process of facilitating VVIP movement, the safety of the common person should not get short shrift. The nation cannot afford to go from one tragedy to another with lessons not learnt, and accountability not fixed.
