At least six people were killed in a stampede that broke out late Wednesday evening in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati temple

Stampede at religious gatherings have caused numerous deaths in India over the years. Maharashtra’s Mandhardevi temple in 2005, Rajasthan’s Chamunda Devi temple in 2008 stampede at a religious congregation in a village in Hathra in 2024 are some of the examples.

STAMPEDE

Various inquiry commissions in India have reported the causes behind crowd disasters. Broadly, they have been categorized into six categories:. Structural, Fire/electricity, crowd control, Crowd Behaviour, Security, and Lack of Coordination between various stakeholders.

Major impact of stampede is death due to asphyxia and other reasons

Such accidents take place due to a lack of (i) understanding of crowd behavior, (ii) coordination, (iii) clear roles & responsibilities of various stakeholders , and (iv) proper planning on the part of organizers. The two major behavioural reasons of any stampede are anxiety and panic.

Institutional Mechanism

The Disaster Management Act 2005, has laid down a three tier institutional structure for disaster management at the national, state and district levels in the form of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), headed by the Prime Minister, and State Disaster Management Authorities (SDMAs) headed by respective Chief Ministers and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMAs) headed by District Magistrate/ District Collector and Co-chaired by Chairperson of concerned Zilla Parishad.

Basics Standard Operating Procedures for proper crowd management is as follows.

The movement of the crowd leading to the entry point must be orderly and coordinated and must be in queues.

Crowd should managed providing them with proper drinking water en route. Enabling them to form groups and control their anxiety by providing them with route map. Leaving them in zig-zag pattern to reach the destination. If it is a temple site, playing Bhajans at the base camp and having CCTVs at every vintage point.

There is little to guide the public to anticipate and respond to danger signals in crowds. Education about crowd dynamics and the role of individuals in crowds is needed for effective crowd management.

The media can also play a significant role. Public education by promoting special features, programs, and public service announcements relating to crowd safety and personal and group responsibilities.