The tragic stampede at the Mahakumbh site has once again reiterates that whatever efforts the administrators take to manage extremely large crowds, there would always be some left-over lacunae where the crowd management relents. We have yet to get well versed with the psyche and behavior of an overzealous large crowd.
The Uttar Pradesh government has confirmed that 30 people were killed and 60 injured in a pre-dawn stampede at the Sangam area of the Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. The incident took place as crores of pilgrims jostled for space to take a holy dip on ‘Mauni Amavasya’, considered one of the most auspicious days.
It was observed from the visual media that the event managers and security personnel were diverted substantially to entertain numerous VIPs – Politicians, VIPs who were most eager to have a holy dip at Triveni out of their turn.
A high level enquiry has been ordered by the Chief Minister to find out what had gone wrong that resulted into such a tragedy.
According to eyewitness accounts, one of the reasons for the tragedy was the sudden surge of pilgrims at the Sangam – all driven by an obvious desire to take the holy dip at 3 am, the start of the auspicious hour.
Witnesses spoke of routes to the Sangam being closed, bringing the large crowd to a standstill and causing some people to collapse due to suffocation, while others began pushing, pulling, and climbing over them in an effort to escape. Others spoke of a huge push from the back that left them wedged between barricades on one side and police personnel wielding batons on the other.
Of late, now with deployment of additional force, authorities have also streamlined the rituals after the tragedy, facilitating dips for devotees first, with saints starting their processions, which took place on a smaller scale than planned, only after the number of other attendees had come down.
‘Amrit snan’, the traditional bathing ritual of Akharas, was deferred after the stampede but resumed in the afternoon. Till 5 pm, nearly six crore devotees took a dip.
As per official claims, around 9 crore to 10 crore people are in Prayagraj and the Chief Minister has appealed to devotees to take a dip in the Ganga at their nearest ghats and not try to reach the Sangam Nose to avoid overcrowding.
The bigger question haunting every concerned citizen is why, despite India witnessing massive religious congregations for centuries, crowd management still remains an unmanageable challenge. Whether it is the Kumbh Mela, Tirupati Balaji Temple, the Amarnath Yatra, the pilgrimage to Mata Vaishno Devi, or any other large-scale religious gathering, incidents of stampedes and mismanagement have occurred time and again. Despite these recurring tragedies, authorities have failed to adopt scientific methods and modern technologies to streamline crowd movement and ensure the safety of devotees.
It is high time that India wakes up to the need for a structured, well-defined, and scientific approach to crowd management. The government must invest in advanced crowd control mechanisms, deploy artificial intelligence-based surveillance, install adequate exit and entry points, and train personnel in disaster management and over and above do away with VIP culture. Unless concrete steps are taken, India will continue to grapple with stampedes and mishandled crises, bringing unnecessary suffering to devotees and tarnishing the country’s ability to manage its religious and cultural heritage events safely.
