DC Edit | Keep crowded places safe
People go on a pilgrimage seeking spiritual solace and it is the job of the agencies concerned, including governments, to ensure that they return safe physically. It was not long ago that six people were killed in a stampede in Tirupati, again a very well-maintained pilgrim place, when the people rushed to receive the prasadam (offering) of the Lord
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True, India is a country of 143 crore people and the largest populated on earth but that does not mean that we have expendable lives out there. But the way the government, its agencies and institutions in the interpersonal, public and sociocultural domains operate tells another story. Sadly, even the people refuse to believe in their self-worth at times. And when all these elements come in a single line, we have a tragedy and people perish.
The pre-dawn stampede which that claimed 30 lives as per official records and injured many when they were rushing to take an “amrit snan” (holy bath) on the occasion of the Mauni Amavasya as part of Maha Kumbh ritual at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday was one such occasion. It cannot be said that the authorities were careless or callous: The Central and state governments had made elaborate security arrangements for the largest human convergence at a particular place in a given time on earth. A seven-layer security system, aided by CCTV cameras in their thousands and AI-powered data analytic systems for real-time surveillance, was in place.
The security systems indeed worked when a fire triggered by a gas cylinder blast in the tent city at Kumbh that had the potential of inviting a big calamity was put out fast without a casualty. But the system failed when the crowd broke the barriers and rushed to take the holy dip, resulting in the stampede and unfortunate deaths.
People go on a pilgrimage seeking spiritual solace and it is the job of the agencies concerned, including governments, to ensure that they return safe physically. It was not long ago that six people were killed in a stampede in Tirupati, again a very well-maintained pilgrim place, when the people rushed to receive the prasadam (offering) of the Lord. These events point to the fact that we need systems for better sensitisation of the people on how to behave in a crowded place. And for the government agencies, the lesson is simple: There is no end to the precautions they can take to secure crowded places.