Managing crowds

Updated on: Monday, February 20, 2012

With rapper Honey Singh performing at the Ramjas College grounds on the last day of the annual festival, there was chaos as about 30,000 students tried to make their way in, leading to a stampede-like situation at the entry point. A student of Dayal Singh College was seriously injured in the mayhem and had to be taken to the Indra hospital while a few of the other injured students were given first-aid. The issue has forced colleges to rethink alternate measures of crowd management apart from increasing security.

Following the incident, Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), in its February 15-18 fest, increased the number of student-volunteers and police personnel to man the entry and exit points.

"We ensured that more police personnel were deployed at all entry-exit points, made separate entry for girls and boys as well as for the staff. Also, we had a few bouncers to control the crowd," informs PC Jain, principal SRCC.

Colleges, which are yet to hold their fests, are cautious after the Ramjas incident. Motilal Nehru College had trouble securing clearance from the authorities for organising their fest after the Ramjas stampede.

"Students must behave in a disciplined manner at such events. We allowed entry only against display of students' i-cards and made sure only genuine participants entered the arena. Increasing the number of security guards is an option, but there must be guidelines for managing a large crowd, which we will be working on," says I S Bakshi, principal, Dayal Singh College.

The DU student union too believes on having a crowd management mechanism in place. "It is the responsibility of the individual college to handle such situations; they should be ready as the crowds have always been large," says Ajay Chikara, president, DUSU.

He adds, "We have written to the principal of the college and the proctor for instituting an enquiry into the matter. Colleges with pending fests are enhancing security and we are also offering more volunteers."

Usha Rao, proctor, DU, believes that managing a large number of students desperate to watch the stars perform can become a difficult situation.

"An enquiry is being conducted into the Ramjas issue. We need to be ready to handle such situations and are thinking of ensuring safety by controlling the number of students through sales of a fixed number of tickets and by using private security," she concludes.

Times of India

Managing crowds

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