The Karur stampede is one more incident in the series we have been witnessing, with an exclamation but without any surprises. Be it the mahakumbh stampede, or the New Delhi railway station incident, Bangalore cricket stadium, mathura godman function, the list is just a test of memory.
How many can one count. Just yesterday ncrb told us that more than 21000 people lost their lives due to railway accidents in the past year. We had some 4.4 lakh deaths during this period on account of accidents.
These are no natural calamities, but man made incidents. We lose more than 2 lakh people each year to road traffic accidents, unimaginable figures in any civilized society. This speaks of the contempt we hold for the poor and their lives.
Every few kilometers we find signages saying “accident prone zone “ That completes the responsibility of the authorities, no body needs to correct the faulty design of the road. Every highway is dotted with trauma centers, the most profitable locations for hospitals.
We take pride in the numbers gathered in our congregations. But they are only numbers. Religious, sporting, political or any star powered event, the focus is on numbers.
The people are faceless, they are not invited and can expect no facilities. The high court has observed that the leader just vanished after the incident calling it ‘poor quality leadership’.
The court has asked the Tamil Nadu government to draw SOPs for such massive gatherings. We had big commissions inquiring into such incidents, the 1954 kumbh stampede led to a detailed SOP of crowd mobility, but the vvip attendance meant the SOP had to be suspended and we had a repeat of it.
Still no one was held responsible, least of all the government which summoned the entire country to the event. The court also held that the government and the organizers needed to arrange for water, sanitation and evacuation of people in any such gathering.
This is common sense, the question is of quantification. Is anyone responsible for crowds not exceeding the estimates, the ratio of facilities and the capacity of the evacuation plans. Without them, these are just homilies.
Tamil Nadu government has submitted that it would not allow gatherings near highways, until the SOPs are ready. We have highways closed for a month for the kanwariyas.
The court has reprimanded the police for not registering FIRs against the vehicles involved in the incident. This is a crucial issue.
As identity is taking the center stage, in our collective endeavors, crowds are participating forums. We cannot do away with them. Crowd is power, and it must be disciplined.
