The blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad caused about 50 deaths. That's sad, unfortunate and alarming. But what about the "at least 146 deaths" caused by stampede at the Naina devi temple in Himachal Pradesh? If terrorism is a big problem, isn't these kind of carelessness thrice big problem? The amount of money and jewellery offered at these religious places is huge. The Tirupati Balaji temple, Rameshwaram, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dwarika, Badrinath, Jagannath Puri, Siddhi Vinayak, Akshardham, ....and so many other famous religious places get crores of Rupees daily. Why can't the corresponding trusts make enough arrangements so that such incidents do not happen? Is it such a big problem to avoid a stampede? Having seen many of these temples I think it can be done. If only the trustees of the temples care about human life more than wealth accumulation.
This, added with the ailing bridges over many rivers across the country is killing and will kill many more people than the terrorism is.
12 comments:
it was really sad, but stampede has a long history behind it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stampede
Yes Simar. But almost all of these incidents happen because of human negligence. There could be adquate arrangement made for quick and easy evaquation. Multiple openings, wide doors etc can certainly minimize the damage. Isn't it?
yes. so u cannot just blame india for being negligent for the lives of its citizens. if u want to blame something, it is the blind faith of all those who end up forming a crowd vulnerable to stampedes.
Simar: Being an Indian I comment about India. It may be true for many other countries but I do not care much.
I disagree with you that it is the blind faith that is responsible for crowds. I have seen heavier crowds for Live concerts of bollywood stars, singers, in malls, at railway stations etc. But the crowd does its part by offering money to the temple or by buying ticktes at the concerts. The onus is on the people who collect that money to provide enough arrangement for safety.
oh yes! heard abt this from back home.. it was terrible! i agree with simar, crowd control is impossible after a certain number. given resources are limited, how can one expect to control unexpected crowds!
I think the crowd is somewhat predictable. e.g. in the month of Sravan and Navaratri certain temples will be more crowded etc. Past data can be used for crowd prediction. Main thing is accountability, if there is a team accountable for and penalised for such a disaster, and it is equiped with modern technology etc it can be possible.
Simar,
As ordinary India we all just blame each other, can you have your duty?
does you teach even one person? If you are doing same and just blaming then your thoughts are useless...
There is always a risk at holy places during auspicious occasions. Such incidents will keep on happening unless and until we ourself wakeup. If you look at the various religion places of worship(Muslim,Christian,Buddhism etc) they are well maintained i.e. they are in proper rows and all of them pray at a time. But what I see in Hindu temple is that every person wants to go near and near to the idol of God and do not have patience to wait for that. I do not understand, this at all.
Dear Anonymous,
I agree with you that there is this trend of reaching near the idol in some (not all) of the Hindu temples. Which is wrong. But I think you have a slight loss of memory when you name muslim places of worship among safe ones. Here are a few samples from recent past to refreash your memory:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4606002.stm
http://neo-neocon.blogspot.com/2006/01/another-haj-stampede.html
http://www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/980413/1998041322.html
So the point is not only about religious places, but it can happen in a live concert, disco, movie hall, shopping mall....anywhere.
Wherever there are more number of people than expected, there is a risk. So people should themselves take care. You cannot keep relying on government for all(concert, disco, movie hall, shopping mall....anywhere). Evrything has a limit. Govt to does within there limit.
Statiscs shows that the incidents such as stamping are very very low at holy places in other religion.
What I mean to stay is we have to keep our eyes wide open and try to follow the rules.
Every temple has an administration and they were doing there best.
Moreover you cannot have 1 on 1person control.
Wherever there are more number of people than expected, there is a risk. So people should themselves take care. You cannot keep relying on government for all(concert, disco, movie hall, shopping mall....anywhere). Evrything has a limit. Govt to does within there limit.
Statiscs shows that the incidents such as stamping are very very low at holy places in other religion.
What I mean to stay is we have to keep our eyes wide open and try to follow the rules.
Every temple has an administration and they were doing there best.
Moreover you cannot have 1 on 1person control.
Dear Anonymous friend,
Thanks for expressing your opinion and suggesting your way for improvement. Let's speak up at different levels and platforms as much as we can to improve the things. That is what we can do.
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