Stampedes
Friday February 4 2005 08:49 IST
By Karmayogi
Stoicism is in our
blood. We take a stampede as one that is inevitable. In the scheme of things,
it looks all right. Those who are in charge of managing such events, if such
authorities exist, can review the situation to find out whether there is
anything that can be done.
If the inquiry leads to some ideas, it is better to consider them. In recent
decades, temple festivals have received an enormous crowd which is under no
one's control. Electric wire giving shock by short circuit is not an
unknown phenomenon. Some thirty years ago, the 19-story Bank Building in Bombay was on fire. The
cause was reported to be the short circuit of electric wires. Fortunately, as
it was at night, the building caught fire but there were no human casualties.
Children in Western schools are given the training in fire drills. They are
told and trained not to panic. The moment the alarm is raised, they stand in
attention and do not move. This training is from early years. Of the 20,000
people who were in the World Trade Centre on Sept. 11th, the fateful day, 5500
people died or were wounded.
But for such a training in their early years, double the number would have
suffered. Those who have lived outside India, especially in the USA, know how strictly
the police enforce the traffic rules. Erring drivers are always surprised by
the ubiquitous police. The inherent efficiency of the Indian police is high. They
have acquitted themselves very well wherever they serve. But the general lax
attitude to public behaviour or behaviour in the public is the cause of such
lapses as stampedes.
Electric insulation is not done with the best materials. Often it is flimsy. It
is a department of life where no one is in charge. Rules can be made governing
such practices in hundreds of fields, and enforced with a greater sense of
urgency.
One reason for the vast crowds at festivals is the growing prosperity. It is
not people, but a mob. They are oblivious, delightfully forgetful, have no
training in discipline or self-discipline. Still, if only the police, the
temple authorities and related NGOs take whatever precautionary measures that
are now available at their disposal, such tragedies can be minimised. The
Indian administration is resourceful and efficient as we witnessed fifteen
years ago in the conduct of the Asian sports festival.
Give them the authority needed, an occasion to test their innate talents, offer
them incentives, I am sure they will rise to the occasion. When a telegram is
delivered a day later, we no longer take it lying down. The department is made
to explain or offer a compensation. Awareness is coming into its own in a small
way at a hundred points. The recent tragedy must make us act and use our
resources fully.