Mass Gathering in Ganga Ghats- Mela Task Force Background India is a country of many religions, faiths, festivals and events. Owing to its around 1.2 billion populations and religious beliefs mass gathering events happens during various festivals. Such gatherings happen within a short span of time in a very limited space with limited resources. With such events, it becomes imperative for the governments to get involved and make arrangements to keep the events as smooth as possible. Gatherings like Kumb mela, Makar Sankranti snan (bath) and other holy snan (bath) days are always a matter of concern for the city administration. Chances of accidents, stampede can’t be rules out which may lead to huge loss of human health and lead to a sad incidents during such festivals and enjoying days. The important events/festivals that occur along the Ganga Ghats are Kumbh Mela (including Kumbh, Ardhkumbh, Purnakumbh Mahakumbh which happens in every 3, 6, 12 and 144 years respectively), Chhath Puja, Makar Sankranti, Dashehra, Holy Snan (bath), Dev Deepavali (at Varanasi), Ganga Mahotsav (Varanasi), Idol Immersion etc. Kumbh Mela is generally acknowledged to be an event that signatures huge gatherings, almost 10 million people in an area of less than 60 square kilometers; it becomes difficult for the organizers to take care of needs of every single citizen. Chhath Puja also witnesses sudden surge of people around along Ganga ghats (mostly in Bihar) to offer their prayers. Such sudden pressure on all the public and private infrastructures increases the chance of collapsing if proper management are not drawn before hand. Major anticipated risks associated with mass gatherings are: 1. Food, Water and Sanitation • During this event demand for the food, water and sanitation increases sharply which put pressure on the existing supply system; • Supplying quality food and safe drinking water during such festivals are a challenge to city administration; • Adequate sanitation facilities for the devotees in order to avoid open defecation and direct sewage disposal to Ganga. 2. Health • Foodborne and waterborne illness • Spread of communicable disease such as swine flu, bird flu, HIV, hepatitis is very high; • Accident and Injuries • Traumatic injuries (cuts, scraps, sprains, fractures) 3. Stampede Problem • Stampede can occurs at bathing Ghats, railway station, bus station etc 4. Solid Waste • Sudden increase in total solid waste generation which put pressure on the existing infrastructure of the ULB for collection, transportation and disposal; • Chances of scattering of solid waste along the Ghat area is quite high which ultimately pose risks to the water quality; 5. Sewage Disposal • Sudden increase in sewage generation and its collection is always an issue; • The makeshift arrangements/mobile toilets sometime malfunction due to improper maintenance which ultimately discharge into the river; • Adequate sewage collection and disposal mechanism to be taken up; 6. Transport
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The train and bus stations are filled with arriving and waiting pilgrims milling around or sleeping in whatever space they could find. • Traffic jam in the cities due the presence of excess people that public transport can sustain. 7. Communication: Due to huge gatherings chances of missing of children and elderly persons are common fact in such huge events. Various child trafficking rackets also become very active in disguising children from such mass gathering events. Compatible and Integrated Communication between field staff, volunteers and emergency planning & response team. 8. Safety Issues: There is no such systematic crowd modeling prepared in most of such mass gathering places and thus no prediction can be made for the proposed gathering in an upcoming event. The infrastructures like ghats, promenades are built in older days from which the gatherings have increased manifold. Thus the load bearing capacities of such civil infrastructure/makeshift structures collapses many a time leading to sad events. Drowning in the Ganges during the festivals in rainy season. Some Tragic Incidences • 17 people were dead on 18th Nov, 2012 during Chhath puja in Patna. Stampede occurs due to the Rumor came that a live electric wire falling in water on Ganges Ghat. • 9 people were killed and 17 were injured on 14 th April 2010 in Kumbh Mela at Haridwar, because a car lost control-creating chaos in crowd. • 30 people were killed in a stampede at the train station of Allahabad in Kumbh Mela 2013. In addition, the wound of Kedarnath tragedy is happened in 2013 is still very young which took the life of lot of pilgrims entrapped in the whims of Nature. Present Method of Management: Mass gathering management done in a cooperative manner bringing together stakeholders from different sectors on a common platform. Mass gathering management can’t be done by single department/agency/authority. Stakeholders of the mass gathering management are District Administration, Municipal Corporation, local groups, private and public enterprise and NGO. Presently methodology adopted by these stakeholders to manage mass gathering are as follows:1. Capacity Planning a. Infrastructure development needed for mass gathering events depending upon the popularity, periodicity of event; local weather, terrain and population etc. b. Staging point planning for physical locations through which each person pass. Each staging point is being managed to have facilities for rest, food, water, and hygiene. Counting/monitoring of visitors passing through staging point facilities are installed to regulate the flow of people. 2. Understanding crowd behavior – a. Individual behaviour in a crowd is sometimes influenced by the behaviour of others. The individuals within a crowd may act differently than if they were on their own. The unlawful actions of a few people can result in larger numbers following them.
3. Crowd control a. Identify the makeup and motivations of the expected crowd ahead of time to anticipate challenges b. Crowd Controlled Staff are being Uniformly dressed (high visibility) c. Crowd Control Staff Should be in a position to communicate with each other and also to the crowd d. Managing demand and supply gaps for the mass gathering by understanding the demand and supply 4. Stakeholder Approach a. Stakeholders such as NGOs, Business Associations, Schools/ colleges, societies/associations/Mohalla committees are encouraged to take ownership in events Proposed Management Method: Apart from the various management measures being undertaken by the respective districts handling such mass gatherings, various crowd modeling methods are now developed in order to have pilgrim database, pilgrim tracking and identification through modern IT enabled services like: • An absolutely essential aspect of any crowd management is to collect, analyze and organize data about the entities, including the finger, palm and retina of the participants into a database using a Distributive Database Management System (DBMS) capable of efficient searching through a large amount of data; •
For pilgrim tracking and identification using of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips to track and monitor people and products are very common these days. For example, passports of all Malaysian nationals are RFID enabled, which leads to a very fast processing of Malaysian nationals at their airports.
RFID as compared with a grain of rice which can be inserted
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Data tracking method
Recent outbreaks of H1N1 virus commonly known as swine influenza or swine flu and bird flu have made the crowd management more challenging. In order to check the spread of these other viruses such as HIV and hepatitis, each pilgrimage should only be allowed for those who can undergo a comprehensive medical examination and provide their medical data, including that of immunizations, into the event database. RFID can be an important while tracking such pilgrims.
Further in every districts of India, generally a District Level District Management Plan (DDMP) are prepared for various anticipated disaster in the district and its possible management. The recommendations of such DDMPs also include recommendations for • • • • • • • • •
Adequate crowd management through limiting the time of stay of persons in the ghats; The suggested measures adopted in the project can also be shared with the DM so that accordingly crowd management can be made; Separate entry and exit route to minimize any panic related hazard; Close circuit television at strategic points as well as in the entry and exit point to monitor traffic inflow and outflow; Adopting the proposed access routes as suggested in the project for crowd management; Ensure that the maximum allowable load of persons in the Ghats as suggested in the project does not exceed at any point of time; Adequate signage shall be provided along with public address system through media, newspapers and Addressable by the polices; Policing to restrict the entry of any kind of vehicles towards the ghat approach roads during the festival season, only pedestrians are allowed along the approach roads; Life boat and life jackets shall be provided in each ghat to provide safety during any kind of emergency conditions;
Public awareness and Outreach is one of the important aspects, which can minimize various tragic incidences to a large extent. Also people need to be encouraged to use the proposed sanitation facilities given by the mella organizers so that sanitation measures can be taken under control. Media can also play a significant role in public outreach by promoting special features, programs, and public service announcements relating to mass gathering safety and personal and group responsibilities. However in order to do all such activities a dedicated Mela task force is needed which will only work for taking care of various management measures required for managing such mass gatherings. The Proposed Mela task force may primarily be developed for important religious places in Ganga basin like: • • • • • • • • • • •
Gangotri; Badrinath; Kedarnath; Yamunotri; Rishikesh & Haridwar; Mathura & Brindavan Garmukteswar; Allahabad; Varanasi; Vaidyanathdham; and Gangasagar
With local importance the Mela task force may be named accordingly e.g. Ganga Sevak Vahini/ Ganga Rakshak Vahini/Ganga Mela Vahini etc.
The task force may be comprised of personnel from retired police/army officers of the region, some existing police/army officers, army jawans and local youth volunteers. Their major scope of work would be but not limited to the following: • • • • • • • • •
Tracking of pilgrims and based upon the data base available for the pilgrims either through RFID or through any other such proven method; Support the pilgrims for systematic entry and exist to the place; Make batch of pilgrims who are allowed to the ghats for a certain period of time and then make the next batch to enter the ghat area; Install and maintain the mobile toilets/mobile STPs; Support in installing some pipeline for proper disposal of sewage apart from the ghat area and dispose them in some available man hole nearby; Arrangement and support for collecting various pious refuse disposed to the ghats and send them accordingly to the pious refuse management NGOs involved in these religious cities; Support for building necessary communication measures; Support for emergency services, disaster management and evacuation of staff; The task force will also coordinate with the fire, police, local government and medical representatives and health care centres to take care of any emergency situations.
Strategy involve at different stages of management of mass gathering for mela event Planning Where mass gathering of people are expected, engage additional trained staff or police officers on site. Make a specified operating plan that assigns work and location for each member of the task force. Ensure that members of the task force are properly trained to manage the event. Designate some member of the mela task force to contact local emergency responders if necessary. Provide legible and visible signs that describe entrance and exit locations, and other important information such as the lavatory, bathing ghats for males and females. Prepare an emergency plan that tackles potential dangers such as overcrowding, crowd crushing, being struck by the crowd, violent acts and fire. Share emergency plan with all local public safety agencies. Making provision for the safe food and drinking water, sanitation facilities to all the people. Making provision for proper disposal of sewerage and solid waste. Pre-Mela Event:
Set up barricades or rope lines for crowd management well in advance of gathering of people. Designate member of the mela task force to explain approach and entrance procedures to the arriving people. Make sure that outside personnel have radios or some other way to communicate with personnel inside and emergency responders. Trained the mela task force personnel to tackles potential dangers such as
overcrowding, crowd crushing, being struck by the crowd, violent acts and fire. Make sure that every mela task force know his assigned work and know how to respond & whom to respond in case of any emergency. Provide public amenities including toilets, washbasins, water and shelter. During the Mela Event: It must be ensured that every member of mela task force is on his designated position and discharging his duties. Medical facilities are available at designated location with all required amenities. Use a public address system or bullhorns to manage the entering crowd and to communicate information or problems. Proper care should be taken during any emergency so that people don’t get panic. Provide a safe entrance for people with disabilities. Ensuring that safe drinking water and food is supplied. Ensuring the proper disposal of sewerage and solid waste. Emergency Situations: Know in advance who to call for emergency medical response. Keep first-aid kits available, and have personnel trained for taking care Instruct members of the task force, in case of an emergency, to follow instructions from authorized first personnel, regardless of any department and profession.
Future Plans and Administrative arrangement: The disaster management and management of mela falls udner the jurisdiction of city administration controlled by the district magistrate. In this regard it will be the responsibility of each SPMG to coordinate with DM for obtaining necessary DDMP report. Based upon the DDMP, a crowd modeling study of the religious spaces may be done after necessary baseline assessments and previous pilgrim gathering information. Parallel to this necessary proposal from city administration may be made for the formation of mela task force which will include the remuneration, their training to crisis management etc. NMCG to write letter to all SPMGs in this regard to initiate the process. Additionally NMCG with support of SPMGs may call for EoI for preparing crowd modeling study of the particular religious places. References 1. CROWD MANAGEMENT, Report of the Task Force on Crowd Control and Safety, Chapter I Crowd Management, (http://www.crowdsafe.com/taskrpt/chpt1.html access on 22 September 2014) 2. Crowd Management Safety Guidelines for Retailers, OSHA Fact Sheet (https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/Crowd_Control.html access on 22 September 2014) 3. Mass Gathering Event Management A Case Study of MahaKumbh, 2013, Allahabad, Bihar State Disaster Management Authority 2nd Floor, Pant Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna-1 4. A case study on Chhath Puja, 2013, Mass Gathering Event Management, Bihar State Disaster Management Authority. 5. Crowd Management with RFID & Wireless Technologies Mohammad Yamin
University of Canberra ACT 2601 Australia 6. Managing Crowds, A Guide for Administrators and Organizers of Events and Venues, 2014, National Disaster Management Authority (ndma), Government of India 7. EIA study for Proposed River Front Development in Patna, Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited, February 2014