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Correspondent

21 August 2024 at 3:50:16 pm

Fatal Festivities

The horrific crowd crush at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata which claimed at least 19 lives, is a grim reminder of a recurring structural failure. For a nation that regularly achieves complex logistical feats, the persistence of lethal stampedes at public gatherings reveals a critical regulatory deficit. India’s state administrations routinely fail to translate basic crowd-science principles into enforceable municipal policy, turning moments of national celebration into...

Fatal Festivities

The horrific crowd crush at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata which claimed at least 19 lives, is a grim reminder of a recurring structural failure. For a nation that regularly achieves complex logistical feats, the persistence of lethal stampedes at public gatherings reveals a critical regulatory deficit. India’s state administrations routinely fail to translate basic crowd-science principles into enforceable municipal policy, turning moments of national celebration into scenes of preventable slaughter. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that the country recorded more than 4,000 stampedes in the last two decades, with religious and cultural festivals accounting for nearly two-thirds of all global crowd fatalities. It has been observed that whenever crowd density crosses the critical threshold of six individuals per square metre, individual agency vanishes and a single trip triggers a fatal domino effect. The profound tragedy of the Chorbagan disaster is that the regulatory blueprint to prevent such losses has existed for years. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has long prescribed proactive crowd-management frameworks. These guidelines mandate rigorous structural safety audits, scientific capacity caps, and modular, zig-zag queue barriers specifically designed to shatter the dangerous forward momentum of a surging crowd. True crowd management requires shifting away from reactive policing and toward real-time spatial planning, yet these directives are routinely ignored on the ground. In 2024, the devastating Hathras crowd crush claimed 121 lives at a religious gathering. The regulatory neglect continued into January 2025, when a severe collapse of barricades at the Prayag Maha Kumbh Mela left over 30 pilgrims dead at the Triveni Sangam. Weeks later, in February 2025, another 18 pilgrims were crushed to death at the New Delhi Railway Station as massive volumes of devotees simultaneously rushed to board a train home from the festival. The failure is rooted in fractured governance. Because public order is legally categorized as a state subject under India’s constitution, enforcement falls on a patchy mosaic of overstretched local police forces and private festival committees. All too frequently, local organizers optimize for political prestige, corporate sponsorship, and raw footfall over strict capacity limits. The Kolkata disaster represents a classic principal-agent problem: the benefits of hosting an ultra-popular, award-winning venue are internalized by the committee and sponsors, while the catastrophic safety risks are entirely externalized onto vulnerable devotees. India can no longer afford to treat these recurring crowd crushes as acts of God or unpredictable tragedies. Until state governments mandate real-time crowd-monitoring technology, enforce strict physical entry limits on historical enclaves, and impose heavy criminal and financial liabilities on negligent event committees, India’s grandest cultural celebrations will continue to be stalked by entirely preventable catastrophes. If the country wishes to project itself as a modern global power, it must first demonstrate that it can safeguard the lives of its citizens on its own streets.

Bad Roads, Ugly Politics

Suyash Padate
Nov 1, 2024
2 min read

The pathetic state of roads in Mumbai city as well as its suburbs has made daily commute a dangerous affair. The residents are miffed with the BMC over its lackadaisical attitude. Mumbaikars tweet photos, post videos to grab attention, but everything is in vain. Who cares for the common people. Backbreaking journeys have become part and parcel of life. Political leaders are busy mud-slinging.


This year the monsoon took a break after almost four and half months. During this time some of the roads virtually became non commutable. It may be recalled that the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde first announced to make Mumbai roads pothole free.


Its almost two years now the BMC has concretised only 9 percent of roads it planned to concretise. This decision was taken when it came to light that due to the properties of bitumen in asphalt roads, potholes are a regular occurrence due to contact with water during monsoons.


Hence, to solve the problem of potholes, the corporation has adopted a policy of cement concreting of 6-meter-wide roads in phases. The decision was taken but the dilly-dallying affair made things more difficult.


Mumbai’s traffic does put a lot of strain on roads which is not the case in the other developed countries. Second most important aspect is concretisation of roads is done partly and in phases.


The worst problem which is faced is repeated digging for cables and drainage, which weakens the roads. Above all corruption in BMC makes matters worse as a result everything comes to grinding halt.


According to experts, repairing potholes is a reaction with symptomatic treatment. By and large we are dispensing superficial treatment without addressing the root cause. The long-term solution will be to have roads with no potholes but what we need is the means and technology to achieve this. But for this political will is necessary which we lack on every step.


Mumbaikar’s are convience that corruption in the municipal corporation is the main reason. Contractors have had a monopoly over the last 20 years and this is the reason why reputed companies never come ahead for these projects.


As a result, in the name of attendance and repair, the BMC does shoddy work. Crores are spent but the end result is nothing. The BMC is not paying attention to the crust. If the crust is weak, potholes will see an increase. Without any thought or technical know-how, potholes are filled with cold mix.


This is the reason why the city and suburbs continue to have craters on the roads.


Craters, a serious threat to the safety and security of people. Mumbaikars fade up from their repeated visits to orthopedic surgeons.


They are in a mood to teach a proper lesson to those who were at the helm of the affairs.

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