After conducting extensive mock drills in Ranchi and Jamshedpur on disaster risk management successfully, National Disaster Management Authority (NDRA) after reviewing the inputs gathered from various sources, soon to come up with proper directives to be followed by the district administration to avoid any stampede like situation during Durga Puja.
“District Disaster Management Authorities across the state have been asked to keep a close eye on each of the pandals and keep on checking whether standard operating system are being followed to raise them or not,” said Project Officer (Disaster Management), Colonel S.K. Srivastava. SOS is likely to be consolidated by this Saturday to be propagated to all DDMA and district administrations, added the retired colonel.
Counting on the precautionary measures to be followed while raising the pandals to avoid any stampede like situation, Srivastava said that condition of pandal and it must be checked whether the poles are strong enough to hold it or not. Heavy load must not be put on the pandals, he added.
“There must also be proper entry and exit points in each of the pandals having adequate space between the two points. Both the points must also be specified clearly in bold letters to avoid any confusion in a situation of stampede,” he said.
Srivastava further added that an open space near the pandal is also a must to avoid stampede; in case there is no open space, there must be proper crowd management for easy movement of crowd right from the entry to exit points.
Besides that, electricity connection must be properly done to avoid any short circuit due to lose electricity fittings.
As October is prone to heavy rains and cyclonic movements, proper shed must also be provided near the pandal with a proper parking space in a systematic way.
“The pandals should not be raised on the roads disrupting the movement of traffic which gives way to a stampede like situation. The vendors must also be told not to come on the road beyond a certain line giving way to smooth movement of crowd,” added Srivastava.
Above all, the retired Colonel advised people coming across any such situation to have patience, keep out of rumours and rely only on authentic media. They should also not get panicked during emergency.