The stampede at Sabarimala on Sunday evening, which left around 32 people injured, at least a dozen of them seriously, underscores the fact that the problem of poor crowd control persists in this country. It appears that devotees had been waiting for over seven hours for the darshan of the deity and when some people tried to jump the line, the crowd surged forward causing a barricade to collapse. Several pilgrims fell and a stampede ensued. Stampedes are common in India especially at places of worship and pilgrimage sites. Sabarimala itself has seen several major stampedes; those in 1999, 2000 and 2011 left scores of devotees dead. The Justice Chandrashekhar Menon Commission and the Justice Hariharan Nair Commission, which investigated the 1999 and 2011 stampedes, respectively, had made suggestions for better crowd control. The Kerala government and the Travancore Devaswom Board did take some steps. In January this year, for instance, a ‘hold and release crowd-control method’ was put in place to disperse surging crowds descending the mountain in a systematic manner, instead of allowing them to move down randomly. Crisis response operations were streamlined too. However, as Sunday’s stampede makes clear, the crowd control measures in place were clearly not fool-proof.
Crowd control in India is shockingly inept, especially in places of worship and pilgrimage where lakhs of people throng daily. The obvious way to prevent stampedes here is to restrict the number of people. Temple authorities oppose such restrictions as it is unfair to devotees and will eat into temple earnings. One way to get around this conundrum is to extend hours when the temple is open. But in the name of upholding tradition, temple authorities resist this too. An important trigger for restiveness of devotees is discriminatory treatment. While the masses wait for hours for a darshan, VIPs take ‘short cuts’. It often agitates the waiting crowds and before long, pushing and shoving starts and a stampede results. The police too are partly to blame. Often there aren’t enough personnel to control the crowds. This was reportedly the case in Sabarimala on Sunday. Instead of temporary measures, robust and permanent railings need to be constructed along the route to prevent collapse as crowds surge.
Pilgrims are also to be blamed for irresponsible behaviour and refusal to follow rules. It is not uncommon in temples for devotees to drop banana peels or break coconuts wherever they wish. Slippery floors cause devotees to slip and fall. In a situation where millions of pilgrims are surging forward, this is a recipe for disaster. Sabarimala has been the site of too many stampedes. This must end.