Copyright infringement not intended
Picture Courtesy: hindustantimes
Nine died at the Venkateswara Swamy temple on November 1, 2025, during Ekadashi celebrations due to a stampede blamed on poor crowd management.
A stampede is a sudden, uncontrolled, and impulsive mass movement or rush of a large group of people, often triggered by panic, fear, or excitement.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reported 92 stampede incidents between 2017 and 2022, causing 128 deaths.
As per NCRB, between 2001 and 2022, a total of 3,074 lives have been lost due to stampedes in India. Of these, 70% were men & rest women.
Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu account for half of the total deaths since 2001.
Religious gatherings cause approximately 79% of all stampedes in India between 1954 and 2012. (Source: Indian Express)
What are the main Causes of Stampede?
Overcrowding and Capacity Exceeded
Authorities permit or fail to control gatherings that far exceed a venue's safe capacity.
The Hathras stampede in July 2024 occurred at a religious gathering where about 250,000 people attended, more than triple the permitted capacity.
Inadequate Infrastructure and Design
Many venues, especially older religious sites or makeshift arrangements for events, lack fundamental safety features, narrow entry/exit points, insufficient barricading, a lack of clear signage for routes and emergency exits, and poorly maintained temporary structures.
The Srikakulam Venkateswara Swamy temple stampede in November 2025, exemplified this; temple having the same entry and exit points, no barricades, and a collapsing railing that triggered panic.
Poor Planning and Risk Assessment
Organizers often fail to conduct thorough pre-event risk assessments, prepare adequate contingency plans, or estimate crowd sizes accurately..
Lack of Trained Personnel and Communication Gaps
Insufficient police presence, untrained volunteers, and a lack of effective communication channels among various agencies (police, district administration, medical services, event organizers) exacerbate chaos during an emergency.
Panic Triggers
Rumors (like an electric shock at Haridwar's Mansa Devi Temple in July 2025), minor incidents, or structural collapses quickly spread panic through a dense crowd, leading to an uncontrolled surge.
Fragmented and Inconsistent Implementation of Guidelines
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued comprehensive guidelines for managing crowds at mass gatherings in 2014, recommending advance risk assessment, detailed site layouts, and real-time monitoring.
In June 2025, the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) released "Comprehensive Guidelines on Crowd Control and Mass Gathering Management," focusing on scientific and preventive strategies.
However, these guidelines are often advisory and not legally binding, leading to inconsistent implementation across states and agencies.
Infrastructure Deficiencies and Poor Urban Planning
Many cities and pilgrimage sites lack crowd-conscious design.
Narrow pathways, inadequate permanent structures, and a disregard for safe density limits contribute to high-risk environments.
Urban development programs often fail to prioritize crowd safety in their upgrades.
Limited Use of Technology
While technology offers solutions—such as AI-based video analytics, CCTV surveillance, drones, real-time heat mapping, and virtual queue systems—most police units and event organizers lack access to or fail to effectively integrate these tools.
The Indian Railways, for example, is implementing technology like permanent holding areas, CCTV, and war rooms at major stations, but its widespread adoption remains a challenge.
Weak Inter-Agency Coordination
Effective crowd management requires seamless coordination between police, local administration, fire services, medical teams, and event organizers.
Lack of clear command structures and poor communication hinder rapid response during emergencies.
Insufficient Capacity Building
Training modules for police and local officials rarely cover crowd psychology, advanced risk assessment, or effective evacuation drills.
Specialized training for police, paramilitary, and volunteers is crucial but often overlooked.
Accountability Deficit
Indian law lacks a specific "stampede offense." Incidents are addressed under general criminal provisions like culpable homicide (Section 100 BNS, formerly 304 IPC) or causing death by negligence (Section 100 BNS, formerly 304A IPC).
Fixing accountability is complicated by divided responsibilities among government departments, local authorities, and private organizers.
Proving criminal negligence is challenging, leading to infrequent convictions.
Immediate post-stampede response often focuses on ex-gratia payments, overshadowing the need for preventive measures and accountability.
Political interference and patronage impede strict enforcement of safety protocols at large gatherings, especially religious and political ones operating under informal structures.
Develop a National Framework for Crowd Management
Need a flexible, tiered National Framework for Crowd Management, tailored to event size, type, and local infrastructure.
Establish standardized protocols for risk assessment, clear exit strategies, inter-agency coordination, and comprehensive deployment checklists.
Integrate Crowd Safety into Urban Planning
Urban development programs, including the Smart Cities mission, must prioritize crowd-conscious design, ensuring adequate signage, multiple wide exits, and directional systems in all public spaces.
For recurring events, temporary modular infrastructure like prefabricated barricades and elevated walkways can provide practical solutions.
Mandate Technology Adoption
Government agencies must leverage emerging technologies for effective crowd monitoring.
AI-powered surveillance systems, drones, mobile location data for density tracking, virtual queue systems, and robust public address systems for real-time announcements.
Enhance Training and Capacity Building
Specialized training programs are essential for police, paramilitary forces, and volunteers, covering crowd psychology, risk assessment, first aid, and emergency evacuation drills.
Strengthen Legal and Accountability Mechanisms
Enact a Crowd Safety Act: Dedicated legislation that clearly defines organizer liability, outlines mandatory safety certifications for large events, and imposes stringent penalties for non-compliance and negligence.
Independent Safety Auditors: Mandate independent safety audits for all large-scale gatherings, ensuring impartial assessment of preparedness and adherence to guidelines.
Fast-Track Investigations and Prosecutions: Establish mechanisms for swift, transparent investigations into stampedes and ensure the timely prosecution and conviction of those found negligent.
Unified Command Centers (JOCs): Implement Joint Operations Centers (JOCs) at the local level to bring together police, fire services, health teams, and municipal authorities under a shared plan with clear command lines.
Public Awareness and Education
Campaigns to educate attendees on safe behavior in large gatherings, emphasizing exit routes, staying calm, and following instructions during emergencies.
India's frequent stampedes highlight a major governance issue, revealing a gap between safety protocols and their implementation, along with a lack of accountability. Preventing these deaths and restoring public trust requires a proactive, tech-focused approach, strong laws, and a national safety culture.
Source: THE HINDU
|
PRACTICE QUESTION Q. Stampedes are not natural disasters but man-made tragedies rooted in a failure of governance. Critically analyze. 150 words |
A stampede is a sudden, uncontrolled rush of a large group of people, often triggered by panic, fear, or intense excitement. A crowd crush (or crowd surge) occurs when high density in a confined space leads to people being dangerously compressed against one another or fixed objects like walls and barricades.
Best practices include using technology like AI-powered CCTV and drone monitoring for real-time density analysis, using timed or planned entry and exit procedures, and implementing a single, coordinated command structure involving all relevant agencies (police, medical, organizers).
The DEI is a metric used in advanced crowd simulation research to assess the potential severity and spread of panic within a crowd. It considers factors like the rate of panic transmission, density of panicked people, and alignment of movement with exit routes to provide emergency responders with a quantifiable measure of the situation's risk level.
© 2025 iasgyan. All right reserved