Crowd Management – Demand Vs. Supply Approach

·      By A. V. Raman*

The human tragedy due to the stampede at the ongoing Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, has occasioned yet another opportunity to relearn the existing administrative approach from the supply side for managing huge and massive crowds converge at a spot.  The other occasions were the stampedes at Tirupati, The Chennai Air Show and at Hathras in UP last year when many human lives were lost due to poor crowd management.  

 

 Huge crowd gatherings are not new in India. Any occasion is good enough; fairs and festivals, religious discourses, pravachans, sporting events etc. Massive crowds from all over the country gather. Political rallies too gather huge crowds by providing free transport and other incentives. In recent times, the national passion for cricket has also become a big crowd puller.

 

 Organisers of these events obtain permission form Local Administrations and the latter provide facilities like drinking water, toilet, temporary accommodation in tents, special buses and trains to and from the site, first-aid, general medical and sanitary services to control spread of diseases like cholera, etc.

 

With our growing population, increased per capita income and improved transport services, crowds swell in large numbers posing enormous problems for Local, State and Central level authorities for providing facilities to any degree of adequacy. Further, there is the unpredictable risk of the crowd getting into a frenzy to rush to the temple for darshan at the auspicious moment or to river front for the pious dip or to the spiritual guru for his personal blessings. There can be no lack in anticipating these exigencies in crowd management. There must also be a Plan B alternative strategy if the crowd suddenly becomes restive. There would also be problem of law and order when anti-social elements get into the fray.

 

In its publication “Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering” in 2014, the National Disaster Management Authority too lists only precautions and provisions for managing crowds from the Supply side.

 

Therefore, it is time now to address the crowd management from the “Demand" side. In a nutshell, this would comprise policy initiatives to regulate and control the number of the crowd as attendees in fairs and festivals. For instance, promotional campaign to attract crowds   by providing incentives for more and more buses, trains and planes to the sites should be discouraged.  Instead, some additional fares should be charged as a dis- incentive in order maintain safety and comfortable standards of travel. Another option could be to stagger the fairs in two or three segments spread over a month. For instance, the Shahi Snan (Bath) in Kumbh Mela could be on two days of the same Shukla/Krishna Paksha "Thithis" occurring at monthly interval... These ideas may not be brushed aside even if they ruffle feathers in some quarters. An over-emphasis for the comfort of the rich and powerful may be avoided even if it unsettles the power equation.  A dispassionate understanding and cooperation of religious and social groups should dispel any objection if they realise the implication of an unrestricted crowd, the limited resources for provision of safety and comfort and the grave risk of damage to life and property if crowds are not regulated and even if necessary restricted in number. The ideas here are by no means novel. The have been tried and tested as, for example, in UK during football games attracting unruly crowds in trains, cars and buses. In fact, even during the current Maha-Kumbh in Prayagraj some of these steps have been announced like No VIP Passes, No prolonged stay after the dip, etc. Regrettably they are post- tragedy actions and not preventive steps.

 

The Chembur Mama

                  by A.V. Raman*

If you happen to have seen a white-haired man about 70 years old in the Central Avenue area of Chembur in Mumbai between Diamond Garden and Chembur Rly. Station wearing “Veshti”, a loose-fitting T Shirt with a US institution/company monogram and a [AR1] cloth bag in hand, you have met the typical Chembur Mama.  Mostly hailing from Palakkad in Kerala, he has lived in Mumbai for well over 50 years, first in Matunga as bachelor and patron of South Indian Concerns (popularly called The Concerns). After his arranged marriage with a “young and accomplished girl well trained in household affairs”, he moved to his own flat “600 sq. One BHK” bought for Rs, 80000 with a loan of Rs 40000 from Govt of Maharashtra in a four storeyed building in the then developing Chembur
When he first arrived in Mumbai in early fifties with his Matriculation certificate and 45/120 words speed in typing/ shorthand, he was grabbed by the private companies owned by Gujaratis and some British Companies with offers of jobs in Sales or Accounts Departments as he was proficient in English and Mathematics. The modest salary was wisely spent and saved. He recollects those sunny days, “Eight annas got you a breakfast of 2 idlis, one vada, one dosa with unlimited sambhar and fresh coconut chutney and a steaming cup of coffee in Rama Nayak's while a book of monthly meals coupons was just Rs 22. Transport to and fro offices in South Mumbai were in the Local suburban trains costing as little as 2 annas”.  He and his wife, now called Mami, limited the number of offsprings to two or three.

Now the children have grown: the elder son is CA, married and has moved over to his own flat in the adjoining Ghatkopar/Deonar, the only daughter is married and lives in USA with her husband. The younger son is an IIT/IIM product and works as a professor in a US University. Though the elder son asked the parents to move to his abode, Mami privately told Mama that the offer is not without strings as she would be made to baby-sit their grandson. She wanted to be the queen of all she surveys which would not be possible living with daughter-in-law. Mama never having said NO to the boss all through his married and working life meekly agreed.

Mama like most of his contemporaries is a simple man with clean habits. Long ago soon after his first job he was tempted to smoke once, choked and resolved never to smoke again. Drinking was considered a sin and even as a marketing man he entertained the clients but he sipped only soda. He regularly performs Sandyavandanam and after retirement has joined the Veda Classes to learn to recite the Rudram, the Chamakam and the Suktams. He visits the Sri Ramar Koil every as it gives him the needed daily walk of about a mile or two which he says is good for “body and soul”.

 

In spite of his long living in Mumbai he has not learnt to speak Marathi but feels none the worse as he is well understood by the Chembur vegetable shopkeepers, grocers, general merchants and jewellers with whom he interacts Tamil spoken in a Malayalam intonation and accent. Even his asking for “kai vaccha banian” (banian with sleeves) is understood by the shopkeepers.
   .

He is member of the famous The Fine Arts Society and attends, with Chembur Mami in consort, all its music programmes, dramas and dance recitals and  the pair making  the average age of the audience at  something 55+.  The Mami is a few years younger than the Mama; her ubiquitous presence in the Katcheris, in bright kanjivarams and dazzling diamond ear-tops gold jewellery would draw attention to her. She is adept in using the cell phone and the internet and is financial adviser to Mama for investments in gold (ornaments), apartments and stocks, in that order.

 

The quiet stream of their serene life occasionally gets disturbed like when their professor son in USA announced his decision to marry his co-professor, a Chinese American. After some initial jolts and consultations and clarifications with his daughter and son-in-law Mama gave his consent. As he told his wife “It is far more wise to accept a foreign mattuponnu, than losing the son for ever”. They attended the wedding and Mama is not tired of telling how the foreign mattuponnu took care of his “Amavasya tharpanam” and the night “palaharam” of fruits / tiffin) during the few days they stayed in the US after the wedding.

All said, the Chembur Mama is embodiment of peace within and without.

 

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 [AR1]

 

Dehi’s Madrasis -Then and Now

 

 

Till about the early sixties, New Delhi was just a central government city.  The inhabitants were mostly government servants living within a radius of two miles from Central Secretariat. High ranking Government servants like Secretaries, Joint Secretaries etc. lived in aristocratic bungalows while the lower rung officials like Clerks and Stenographers lived in smaller quarters around the popular middle class Gole Market area

 

     In this great city lived the “Madrasis”- an appellation invented by the North Indians to describe all people belonging to the south of the Vindhyas. Almost all of them were government servants except some essential service providers like school and music teachers, vadhyars (religious pundits) and cooks. With many Subramanians and Ganesans, distinction was made either with reference to the Ministry where they worked or in the Square where they lived, like Finance Subramanian, Defence Ganesan or Wilson Square Ramasubban and Lawrence Square Sivaramakrishnan. If two Sethuramans were in the same Finance ministry, then the distinction was based on the division / department, such as Expenditure Sethuraman versus Capital Issue Sethuraman or their honorary positions in cultural and social organisations like Bhajana Samaj Krishnan or Karnataka Sangeetha Sabha Ramamurthy. There were also nick names given and recognised by the whole community like Bonda Srinivasan, Typhoid Krishnamurthy, and Driver Devarajan and so on.[AR1] 

 

    When it came to r career in government, the Madrasis earned the unenviable reputation as honest, sincere, hard- working, efficient and with absolute integrity. The price that was paid for such appreciation of work was their neglect of leisure time happiness on holidays with family and friends. Many of them would have spent decades living in Delhi but not had had the time to v see the dime a dozen historic monuments abounding New Delhi like the Kutb Minar, the Red Fort, Purana Kila etc.

 

     However, they were united by some social, cultural and religious institutions such as The South India Club, The Madrasi School, The Karnatak Sangeetha Sabha, The Vaishnava Siddhantha Sabbha, The Saturday Bhajana Sabhas, The Navaratri Golus and of course the Irwin Road Pilliar Koil and its adjacent Hanuman Mandir and the Baird Road Kali Koil. Other than congregations during marriages, temple festivals etc there was not many social family visits. Integration with other communities was next to nothing they collectively enjoyed the confidence of the Punjabi shopkeepers to get credit payment facility.

 

    Among the uniting institutions, the Madrasi School, which was also the Alma Mater of this author, occupied a predominant position. It was here that the children of all Madrasis irrespective of the status of the parents, whether a Joint Secretary or an Upper Division Clerk, or the child of a Sastrigal or a cook, came for studies. With no dress code or uniforms all children studied in an environment of equality and fraternity. The teachers, both male and female, were exceptionally devoted to their profession, took avuncular interest in each student and were kind hearted. Till the fifties there was only one school at Reading Road, now Mandir Marg. Even when there was no bar for students from other regions or linguistic groups for admission, the Madrasa School remained exclusively a Tamil school.

  

     The Madrasis were a powerful group in the Central Secretariat. Their network was strongly knit and mutually helpful. Any special treatment or facility in AIIMS, Safdarjung and other government hospitals were arranged by the Madrasi Jt. Secretary, in Health Ministry, while his counter- part in Civil Supplies Department took care of additional allotment of sugar and maida for weddings. Acquiring of land and construction of the many temples in the sixties and seventies in New Delhi was mainly because of the initiative and strength of this group which at one time had the Hon’ble President of India as Patron. Even the introduction of Leave Travel Concession for visiting home towns by Central Government Servants and their families was said to be the brainchild of some Madrasis in the Home and Finance Ministries as alleged by North Indian employee since its substantive requirement of home town should be not less than 400 kms away could not be complied with by them!

 

Most of these Madrasis have retired by now.  Many continue to live in Delhi in DDA and other housing colonies in the faraway Dwarka and Mayur Vihar and their post- retirement activities and interest are confined to within these areas mainly centring the local temple.  Many of their children as next generation Delhi’s Madrasis, hold high positions in government, corporates, defence services MNCs and eminent doctors, scientists and engineers, lawyers and accountants.

The Tamil population in Delhi now is around 10 lakhs against  only some 60000 in 1980. This exponential increase is both on account of increase in the size of the city itself as well as the increase in Tamil immigrants. The Delhi described above  was defined by the areas under New Delhi Municipal Committee and Delhi Metropolitan Corporation and included what is now called as Lutyens Delhi and other Government colonies like Lodhi Colony, R.K. Puram, Moti Bagh , Sarojini Nagar and other non-government settlements like Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Jangpura , Munirkha, Naraina, , Pankha Road . Today, Delhi covers the entire National Capital Region and includes the far- off satellite townships of Haryana and UP where too the Tamil community has settled in huge campuses

In its composition too , the Delhi  Tamil community now includes only fewer  government employees and a large number employed in corporate sector and as self-employed persons . There is also a perceptible change in their lifestyle. To quote Narain Ganesh ( TOI dated 15th Sept 2002) “So what’s an average Delhi Tamilian or DTam like? It is a wide range from the vibhooti-kumkum sporting dhoti clad Karolbagh veterans to hanky topped disco damsel boogying till the wee hours, to suave corporate honchos. Most Tamils, however, fall somewhere in between, adding value to corporates, media groups and the art world”.

Most of the then Tamils were hard put to speak Hindi . I remember my uncle having difficulty to count beyond 20 in Hindi and would say” dho upper bees “for 22, while another relation was ingenious enough to ask for “gobar ka roti “for cow-dung cake! Today, however  the Tamil youngsters speak fluent Hindi, though in a Dravidian accent  like  “Kafer” Market “ Gafer” Market! Also more women now , particularly the younger ones and those working as domestic help , wear the  salwar and the  kameez and not  sarees. .  Their ability to speak English and Hindi has widened their job market.

Culturally, the Tamils still live in their cocoons. The plethora of temples in almost every area where they live, serves  the place of congregation on festival days with  Malai Mandir, the temple devoted to the Tamil Deivam Murugan,  still  the major attraction. On days like Thai Poosam etc., the crowd is huge with hundreds of “Kavadis”,like in some famous Murugan temples in Tamilnadu. A notable feature is the number of persons from other regions and communities like Panjabis, Bengalis, and Marwaris coming to Madrasi temples. A cross cultural and community  integration indeed. Bhajana Samajs, and Music Clubs are now limited to catering to fewer numbers while many  “Rasikar Mandrams “ (fan clubs) of famous cinema actors like Rajani Kant, Kamal Hassan , Vijay have sprung up .

Madrasi hotels and restaurants too  have mushroomed; many   Madrasi  Stores selling typically south Indian specialities like appalam, vetrili, pakku, seeakai powder and textile Stores selling sarees and veshtis, travel agencies to book train and air tickets are other ventures indicating the shift from employment to entrepreneurship.

Integration with other communities through marriage is more  common now than before , with  educated and salaried Tamil boys and girls marrying spouses from other regions. After all,  who will not like to marry the intelligent, hard working and  simple living Tamil groom/bride ?

 

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 [AR1]