Another avoidable tragedy
text_fields
The tragedy that occurred during a stampede at a rally of the Tamil Vettri Kazhakam (TVK) in Karur, Tamil Nadu, though rare is a repeat occurrence. At the time of writing this, 40 people have died. The rally was part of actor and TVK leader Vijay's entry into active politics. As in previous similar tragedies, the disaster was caused by poor planning and carelessness. Vijay's vehicle arrived very late at a point where the crowd and suffocating heat of Veluchamipuram in Karur had exhausted the people who had been waiting for hours. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that a group of mostly teenagers had come close to the leader. There was no system to control the movement of people. As soon as Vijay started his speech, people started fainting. It soon turned into a major tragedy. On the instructions of Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, an emergency rescue operation was carried out under the leadership of former minister Senthil Balaji. The state government and Vijay have announced financial assistance to the families of the deceased and the injured. A judicial commission headed by Justice Aruna Jagadish will investigate the tragedy. The Union Home Ministry has also sought a report. The fact that many of the lapses in similar previous disasters were repeated in Karur makes the avoidable disaster a crime.
Eleven people died in a stampede during the Royal Challengers' IPL victory celebration in Bengaluru last June. Thirty-one people died during the Kumbh Mela in Uttar Pradesh in January this year. Last year, 120 people died in a stampede in Hathras in UP itself. In February this year, 18 people were killed at the New Delhi railway station. Tragedies from stampede have occurred in Tirupati, Goa, and elsewhere also this year. Four students were killed during a music festival in 2023 in Kerala's CUSAT due to a stampede caused by poor planning. If attention had been paid to correct the mistakes in the previous disasters, many of the subsequent ones would not have repeated. If the same accident happens many times, it is not an accident; it is criminal negligence. The investigation into the Karur tragedy will probably find out who is responsible. However, there is no need for a detailed investigation to find out what lapses could have been avoided. One factor is the crowd that overruns the infrastructure.
Even before Vijay's rally in Karur, the limits and restrictions for TVK's state tour were set. Knowing that there would be a large crowd, the restrictions were stricter than usual. However, the limits were also violated in the events held before the Karur rally. In Karur, more than several times the anticipated number of people turned up at the ground, which was only allowed for 10,000 people. Such crowd flow was not stopped. Another reason was the timing. People started arriving as early as 6 in the morning for the event that was supposed to be held at 2 pm in Karur. By noon, the crowd and the heat should have signalled disaster. Vijay arrived after 7 pm. Many who had been standing for hours without even drinking water were in a state of exhaustion that needed no other reason to collapse. The insensitivity of the frenzied crowds known as ‘fans’ is also a factor in this disaster. Overcrowding has created problems at Vijay’s rallies before. But blind hero star-worship pushed the crowd towards disaster. Investigations should be conducted not to find out the reason, but to determine what needs to be done to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
