Large crowds result in stampede deaths?

This is very true that most of the stampede deaths are caused by large crowds.
Everyone of us knows that a stampede death never occurs due to the presence of 1-10 people at a place. It always happens when a huge crowd gathers at a place for some or the other reason. Whenever we have experienced any stampede death in our society the crowd of the people has been held responsible. When one person in a crowd starts running due to any kind of rumour the entire crowd follows him or her without having any time for the second thought to be processed and this causes the deaths on mass level.
On such occasions everyone wants to save his life by getting rid of the place as soon as possible and this causes people to run together resulting in stampede and ultimately deaths. Most of the time people do not have to think what to do on such occasions when they see all the others trying to flee from the spot.
And as such even if someone tries to stay there and understand what exactly is happening people rush into different directions wherever possible and they become the victims of stampedes as well. So having expressed all the above points I am of the firm view that there is no question of stampede deaths without large crowds present at a particular place.
Deepa Singh

An incident of stampede death without large crowd obviously sounds irrelevant.
What I believe is no large crowd at a place no stampede death. In every such incident that takes place in our society it is due to the assembling of a large crowd for a particular purpose and then any rumour or confusion created among them by themselves or someone else.
And this is very obvious that if any rumour or kind of threat appear in front of the large crowd of the people they start rushing out of the place and ram into each other without having time for thinking even for a moment. They run together at one go to save their lives and become the victim of their self created trouble in hurry in the process of running from the place. Whenever there has been a stampede death in our country the reason all the time was the large crowd of people assembled there. It is normal behaviour of a common man that when he sees people doing one action together in an emergency situation he starts following the crowd. The situation does not allow the people to stop and think for a while so that he can take the right course of action on such occasions.
Whenever there is a mass of people present on a particular spot and some trouble occurs they lose their cool and become the part of the same that other people on that spot do. Therefore, having said all the above points I strongly believe that yes the large crowd is only responsible for any stampede death.
Sateesh Rai

Man-made disasters are usually the outcome of  lack of awareness, lack of sensitivity towards the safety measures to be taken to prevent  unforeseen accidents . Recent stampede leading to death of 63 innocent  women and children during luncheon organized by  a well-known saint Kripalu Maharaj  in Pratapgarh  in UP  is an example of  lack of sensitivity, safety measures  taken by the organizers. Large crowds  always  invite accidents  if  preventive measures not taken   with proper planning.  While organizing any mega programme, it is advised  that,  to combat  risks at source of accidents,  seek experts advice, inform about the programme  to concerned Govt officials and take prevention for possible unforeseen disasters and accidents so that innocent lives can be saved.
Disaster, or accidents  strike quickly changing and its effects are long after the events take place. An accident can be defined as  an occurrence arising with little or  no warning , which causes  or threatens  serious disruptions   of life  and  death or injury  to a large number of people . Today, modern technology  has grown  in such a way that most of the accidents can be prevented  with proper precautionary measures being taken.
C Rajendran

No! I object the statement, large crowd experience stampede deaths. But I reinforce my views in saying; stampede deaths are rare and sporadic. Everyday one or the other meeting, religious gathering or service takes place amidst large crowds, do we witness deaths? No!
Stampede deaths or mishaps occur due to poor infrastructure, reckless arrangements of things, false information, no pre-planning, crowd- mentality and especially poor security. And sometimes cops' use of baton to disperse crowd may result in stampede deaths.
Whenever important services and meetings are held without security or necessary arrangements, stampede deaths, abductions, murders, suicide bombings, stone-pelting etc are bound to happen. In such incidents, victims are always 'the voiceless people' and their lives are like, 'today's news are tomorrows trash' merely a passing cloud issue which dies in a day or two. And getting screwed-up about the incident is not prudent and it is not fair.
We had witnessed in the past years (August 28th 2003, January 27th 2005, October 14th 2007, September 30th 2008, August 3rd 2008 and recently March 4th 2010) about the massive stampede deaths. These incidents should lead one to scrutinize the reckless planning and to mend it, so that next time it doesn't occur again.
Hence, the appropriate way to put things are necessary and safety precautions, meticulous arrangements and strict security. So, whenever any gatherings or meetings are to be held, one should have a scrupulous planning with all precautions and security, so that no one gets messed-up, but everything moves and ends smoothly. "Action without plan never achieves its desired results."
H Infant

Greed is a human instinct found more or less in every individual. It is one of the deadliest sins. Greed prevents man from attaining God. It is the greatest obstacle on the path of religion. Practically every religion teaches its followers to keep themselves away from greed. Satan is the father of greed. Great saints and sages have preached not to indulge in avarice.
Our country's population is over 1.1 billion. Religion is the soul of our nation and culture. Every Indian believes in some or other religion. There are more than eight main religions and number of sects. There are a number of holy places where the devotees go as pilgrims throughout the year. India is a country of festivals, on festivals people go to religious places in large numbers.
Whenever there are such mammoth gatherings, there should be proper arrangements to control the people. Concerning authorities and organisers should inform the concerned department on time and seek medical, police and administrative help. If the whole situation is handled in an organized and disciplined manner, there is no reason for any kind of trouble or mishaps. Very few people follow the queue culture.
Human life is very valuable. Loss of lives in a stampede such as at the ashram of Kripalu maharaj at Pratapgarh, leading to deaths of 63 persons and injuries to 200 others, is very painful and heart-breaking. No words and compensations can console the relatives of the victims who were mostly the women and children.
Stampede deaths are a man-made calamity for which the Government, the people, the organizers of the Bhakti Dham ashram, are responsible. People of India are poor but they have their honour and self respect. They should not be treated as beggars. Politicians and Godmen are responsible for exploitation of the gullible Indians.
After independence of India, the politicians and the so-called Godmen are mushrooming in the country and earning illegal money by hook or by crook. The guilty persons should be punished for avoidable stampede deaths.
RK Gupta

According to the Murphy's Law, `Anything that may go wrong, will go wrong.' Since there is a chance of even a carefully planned event going awry, it is always advisable to leave nothing to chance and plan every event especially the ones where large crowds are expected to the minutest details. Large crowds do not necessarily result in stampede deaths if the norms laid down for planning such events are strictly adhered to. It is incumbent on the police and the organizers to share all relevant information related to an event so that the lose ends are firmly tied up and loopholes plugged. Mishaps take place due to lack of communication and cooperation between the two sides or when both show negligence or depend too much on the luck factor. The police are required to collect complete information relating to the number and composition of the crowd, the space available, entry and exit points, fire fighting equipment, emergency evacuation vehicles, volunteers, arrangements made for food, water, electricity, transport etc. After thoroughly studying the data gathered, the police should sit with the organizers as often as possible to firm up arrangements.
If there is a likelihood of a mishap because of the deficiencies in the resources/arrangements like shortage of space, narrow lanes, lack of suitable barricades for orderly movements, obstructive/old/rickety structures, non-availability/breakdown of water, electricity and food arrangements, infiltration of mischievous elements etc, the police must use their powers to impress upon the organizers to make good the deficiencies and deal firmly with those within its powers. If the organizers fail to comply with their side of the duties, the police have the powers to refuse permission to hold such an event... At times, the police are forced by influential individuals to waive the requirements and not insist on strict compliance with the norms.
It is in such situations that tragedies take place. As for the tragic events at Kripaluji Maharaj's Ashram it is clear that both the organizers and the police failed to anticipate the number of visitors and critically examine the arrangements so as to make them mishap proof.
RJ Khurana

It is true large crowds often result in stampede deaths. When we ponder upon the past stampede deaths we come to the conclusion that the basic reason of such deaths was overcrowded venue. As we know very well that a large assembly of people at a particular place creates crowd. All over the world crowds are very common during the periods of festivals, social &cultural functions, sports, etc. Whenever people gather in the crowds of above mentioned functions, they are usually unwary so they indulge in high jinks. Inadequate premises for crowds and indiscipline of public sometimes causes stampede.
Apart from this, huge crowds in funeral processions, sporting events and many other mismanaged crowds may also cause stampedes. Very recently in Delhi 63 persons were killed at a Hindu temple while the devotees were receiving free food and utensils from a temple.
In another case 28 persons were killed inside the hermitage of Hindu spiritual guru Kripalu Maharaj in Pratapgarh district. The incident was due to sudden collapse of an under construction gate {which resulted in stampede}. There are every now and then many such incidents of stampede we see due to ignorance, carelessness of public and due to neglect in the entrusted duties by the officers and indifferent attitude of organizers.
So crowds beyond any doubt result in stampede deaths if there is no proper management of Government and organizers and discipline in public.
S Zia Ul Hasan Naqvi

One major problem facing the world today is rapid growth in population. The world stands at six billion plus. By 2020 the population would have touched 10 billion and there would be serious problems of hunger and maintenance of the environment.
Despite of family planning measures to check this growth of population, it continues to rise in many parts of the world- particularly the undeveloped world.
Large crowds gather during functions at temples. The structures which are weak and may not withstand crowd pressures should be exposed on time and necessary rectifications made. At the UP temple the gate had crashed leading to deaths of so many people who had come for a community feast function for the wife of seer Kripalu Maharaj. Thus no one ever dreamed that the gate would give way so easily but it did. Had there be sparse crowd the stampede may not have taken place.
Hence one of the ways to avoid stampede deaths during functions is to limit the attendance of the people. For this organizers should remain alert and not allow more than the required number of people.
Generally at free meals functions, the poor people would flock. So the organizers have to be very cautious.
Siddhidatri Pillai

'Stampede at a Job fair kills one' was the headline of an English national daily on 10th March 2010. The irony is a job fair turned into a job fire. The story further narrates that one person died and ll were injured during a massive police recruitment drive in Mumbai on Monday (08-03-2100). What else and how latest do we need in support of large crowds result in stampede deaths. The details of the story add that there were around 40 thousand aspirants in the recruitment drive which ended up in a chaos. If police cannot manage its own internal crowd what could be expected of them in a situation of people's stampede on occasions like Kumbh Mela, Hola Mohalla, holi and rangpanchami, popular leaders visits, religious and temple congregations, sports and film stars gazers.
One such latest worst example is the stampede of supposedly Kripalu Maharaj followers for a feast at the Maharaj's Ashram in UP. Many such instances are on record where any number of innocent children, god-fearing and religiously blind men and women died on the spot or maimed for ever now leading almost a beggar's life.
All this happens because we have a loose administration which does not strongly objects to and ban such stampedes meekly surrendering before the organizers in the name of party gatherings, religious, cultural and spiritual assemblies, community affairs and philanthropic activities. Interference by the political bosses is also largely responsible for such stampedes and the impending tragedies. It is high time that the administration rose to the occasion and charge huge insurance money to be paid into the state exchequer by such organisers so that in case of tragedies the victims families and injured and maimed are adequately compensated and rehabilitated.
Krishna Chander Mouli

At the onset I deeply condole those who met untimely death at Mangarh stampede tragedy and all earlier many such tragedies and pray for the bereaved.
People of some creed folk together. Illiteracy and poverty deeply ingrain our rustics in conservative blind faith. At most festivals and life's trials they throng temples and shrines, to offer worship and to seek divine redress. They converge to take dips in holy rivers. There are crowded fairs (Melas) around these places. Invariably most deity-temples are upon hilltops, as it is believed that traversing the temple shadow on the ground is inauspicious. The approaches to such temples are often steep and risky flight of stairs and curving paths. All these occasions involve huge crowds. Their smooth regulation is vital. Therefore the police and the social volunteers are mobilized to supervise it.
Yet tragedies do occur. Ever since I first heard in 1954 of Allahabad Kumbh Mela stampede deaths, there had been several. It is estimated that a staggering 700 lives met untimely end since Nasik Kumbha mela in Aug 2003 alone. It was followed by Mandhir Devi temple, Panagrah (Gj), Durga Malleshwar temple (Andhra), Shri Jagannath Chariot festival (Puri), Karila (MP), Naina Devi (HP) and Chamunda Devi shrines (Jodhpur).
Prevention is better than cure. After most stampede tragedies, Commissions of Enquiry reports could not formulate any effective guidelines to check its recurrence in future. They ought to lay down standard of construction of approaches so secure as to withstand the weight and pressure of a well regulated flow of crowd and lay down its regular maintenance by the governing body as mandatory.
An analysis of tragedies shows that they all were unwarranted and caused on the spur of the moment. There is always a sudden high pressure of crowd upon a single weak point ie scaffolds, bottlenecks, gates or bridges. Under the thrust of impatient crowd, those weak points collapse. The following stampede is panic stricken, people run wildly for safety, disregarding others. Weaker ones are run over to die of suffocation and heavy weights. There is no self-discipline in the melee. Once the tide passes, it leaves a litter of corpses behind. Caught in such a panicked flood, how you could have acted? These Vis major defy reasoning. The mourners of the unfortunates try to console themselves that their dead got instant entry to paradise at the feet of holy alters.
The preliminary has made out a prima facie case of negligence against Mangrah ashram management. It is strengthened by allegation that Kripalu Maharaj did not allow police and administration inside the ashram, nor did it seek administration's permission for holding the mass ceremony of death-anniversary. Yet, apprehending the heavy crowds, the local police ought to have mobilized itself to maintain order u/s 34 Police Act. A lot of politics is being enacted. Should we hope for law to lead to justice..and an end to such stampede tragedies in future? Or else,
`As flies to wanton boys,
Are we to Gods.
They kill us for their sports..
Arun Sarje

India is a country of large population. The studies of various stampedes at the international research level show that mostly mass hysteria or collective obsessional Behaviour (COB) is the socio-psychological phenomenon of the human manifestation for the same or similar hysterical symptoms by more than one person. COB/SHS occurs when a group of people  suffer from similar ailment say for example mass feelings of same religion impulse.
Chamunda Devi temple in Jodhpur's Mehrangarh Fort is the an example for a darshan of the goddess of same COB, where suddenly, some people began pushing forward. A barricade broke, opening up more space on the 8-ft-widepath. Seeing the widened approach, people began jumping the queue, and suddenly everything started going wrong. The news, as it trickled down, got twisted.
Someone mentioned a bomb, and all hell broke loose. Panic-stricken people started running in the opposite direction, pushing, trampling. A toll that may have been contained to single digit kept shooting up with every push, every desperate shove. A similar incident happened in the remote Karila village, 260km from Bhopal.
The stampede occurred due to COB as thousands of devotees were making their way into the temple for socio-psychological phenomenon. Third example of January 05, 265 pilgrims were killed in a stampede near a temple in the western Maharashtra state. "It was simply a mass hysteria or COB as an accident as people who attempted to enter the temple by climbing over a railing fell, The stampede occurred at Mughalsarai, about 350km south-east of Lucknow.
Dr Visal A Khan

Truth is bitter sometimes when your mind is not ready to accept it. One should know that actually this is not a God's world. Neither does it look one like.
However, different people have different understandings about God their maker. Hence one has to be very accommodative and not rash in expressing his views on any particular religion or its practices.
Whenever functions are organized, the people are invited. Sometimes too many people may come to attend the function. This leads to a sort of confusion when the matter of eating is concerned. I recollect attending marriage parties where the people simply dashed towards the eatable items. That is also not good.
In fact darshan of God has become a joke. Truly it is a Mad Mad Mad Mad World..
Crowds are everywhere to be seen- be it markets, marriage parties, temple/masjid/church functions, birthday parties, travel by trains, fairs etc. So it is not necessary that stampedes should take place. People are a tired lot. At times their reasoning stops. So many stampedes have taken place during temple functions. People are too simple when the matter of religion/temple/community feasts are concerned. Thus the people who organize such functions, it is they who should be held accountable for any confusion and resultant deaths. Because they did not plan well about the number of invitees and solid arrangements to avoid any mishap of the type that recently took place at Pratapgarh.
The temple stampede there may be taken as unfortunate as Kripalu maharaj is learnt to have held this function every year.
I think such tragedies may continue to occur in future as they have occurred in the past. There is no foolproof system to avoid it. It happens all of a sudden.
Ram Kumar Khare

It is true that large crowds result in stampede deaths. How to prevent
stampede should be the question on anyone's mind who is attending a
pilgrimage or a procession. Stampede can kill a number of people. There have
been so many lives lost due to carelessness and panic. There are more people
who die from stampede rather than bomb blasts or terror attacks.
Stampedes are bigger killers in India than bomb blasts that so dramatically
capture our mindspace. It is also clear that single bomb blasts rarely kill
people in the kind of large numbers that are associated with stampedes.
Extreme care and precautions are needed to avoid possibility of stampede in
crowded places.
There is always a possibility of stampede at places where
large crowds gather. In a crowded place like a shrine or temple, there
should be permanent barricades on either side of the steps. There should be
separate paths for entry and exit. A queue should be maintained and no
should be allowed to jump it. Volunteers should be asked to stand at every
step to control and guide the crowd. If necessary, police personnel with
adequate training should be stationed. Passes may give to all visitors
during a huge event. These measures will surely reduce the risk of stampede.
Prakash Shrivastava

No, large crowds do not alone result in stampede deaths. Due to not taking of safety and security measures or proper actions to control the large crowds by the organizers result in stampede deaths.
It is painful and shameful that stampede deaths occur in 21st century also. Just like bomb-blasts being regular affair, stampedes are common in our lives. High occupant density, unfamiliarity with the venue, total chaos and confusion are common to many stampede death incidents. No where else such instances are reported other than India and some Middle East.
Tragedy after tragedy strikes India in various forms such as stampede deaths, Bus plunging into a canal, train coaches catching fire, religious riots, floods, and bomb-blasts.
Precautions from the organizing authorities should be a top priority for the health and safety of the visiting crowd. Large gathering venues should have number of exit locations, egress paths, or other present safe guards. It is of our common observation that safety is not given.
The recent stampede at the Kripalu Maharaj ashram located in the small village of Uttar Pradesh district that led to the death of about 63 people--all women and children was yet another reminder of how lax public safety measures are in our country.
The most tragic fact about this stampede was that it was at once avoidable and inevitable. As the management did not care the visiting people therefore it happened. Basic precautions were also not followed and this magnified the extent of the tragedy.
In such occasions people must be told not to give ears to rumours and start a stampede. The availability of a public address system could have restored order faster and the panic could have been quelled.
In another recent incident, one person was killed and at least 11 injured in a stampede that broke out during a police recruitment drive at Kalina in North West Mumbai.
It clearly shows that organizers of these events were never prepared for handling large crowds turned up on these occasions. There are two reasons, one, the crowd was semi-literate and indisciplined and the organizers lacked the basic competence to handle unexpected emergencies.
It should be made mandatory for any organization or institution to seek permission from the local administration. But no special arrangements were made nor permission sought for organizing such a large scale event.
The secret to successful crowd management lies in proper assessment of the crowd pressure, chalking out of entry and exit routes, round-the-clock strict vigil on crowd movement using cameras mounted on watchtowers, deployment of adequate numbers of the police and homeguard forces, and an alert management capable of reacting quickly at the first sign of trouble.
One of the most sophisticated systems of crowd management and queue regulation is the one at the hill temple of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh.
Government must react & impose strict guidelines about the safety & security measures in large gathering places. In fact, Delhi administration promulgated an ordinance requiring organizers to obtain license and various clearances.
To get things right in our country we need at least 2 generations. 1st generation would have to be sincere and then hopefully pass on these traits to their next generation.
PS Prakasa Rao

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