Debacle at Maha Kumbh

The stampede at Maha Kumbh that accounted for 30 lives once again raises the question that why in our country lives are lost during events that attract heavy rush? The stampede in the fair area at Prayagraj occurred at about 2 am when there was a sudden rush of devotees. The rush caused the barricades to give away and all hell broke loose. The rush saw people stepping over one another and among those squeezed and crushed in the melee were devotees waiting on the banks of the Sangam to take a holy dip at the time of Mauni Amavasya. Some among them were sleeping when the incident happened. When the administration was aware that crores of devotees would rush to take a dip in the Sangam at the auspicious hour of Mauni Amavasya, why did they allow people to crowd along the banks to wait and sleep? When it was known that countless devotees would arrive at the Sangam banks to take dips in the holy water, the administration should have strictly forbidden people from waiting or sleeping at the banks as crowd pressure would definitely grow and cause untoward incidents as it finally did. The primary step that should have been taken by the administration was to ensure that the crowds of devotees lined up, took their dips and moved away thus avoiding over-crowding. It seems that there was an oversight in this process that resulted in the stampede. Such types of incidents occur not only due to security lapses but also due to large-scale indiscipline.

Such events happen when people, out of devotional frenzy, skip security measures. Security measures are effective when people too cooperate with the management and administration to maintain discipline. If this pattern would have been followed then the debacle could well have been avoided. If devotion and discipline had gone hand in hand in this historic assembly of human devotion at the Maha Kumbh this unfortunate stampede could well have been avoided. Wherever this element has been missing, stampedes have taken place. It was expected that eight to ten crore devotees would take the holy dip during the Maha Kumbh on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. The population of many countries is lesser than the presence of people at the Maha Kumbh. After the Maha Kumbh stampede, the manner in which traffic had to be stopped or the manner in which devotees’-laden trains had to be run in stops and starts, went to show how strenuous and challenging crowd control was. It would have been logical had not announcements been made that taking a holy dip in the Sangam during Mauni Amavasya would be the most auspicious event in a lifetime. The relief was that the situation was brought under control but the unfortunate event that occurred should be a compulsory lesson to avoid such fiascos in future.