City pandals strive for safe Navratri celebrations as crowds surge

With the city engrossed in the fervour of festivities and people thronging temples to pay obeisance during the Navratri festival, their safety becomes a point of concern.

- UJWAL JALALI @ New Delhi

Not just the Navratri, but the Durga Puja festivities are also ongoing where huge 'pandals' have been installed at various places of the city.

The Durga Puja Pandal in north Delhi, one of the largest pandals in the city, expects a daily footfall of over 1 lakh people.

Such large gatherings make the place prone to untoward incidents, as, just a week back, an electrocution-triggered stampede incident was reported at one of the temples in Kalkaji. A teenage boy lost his life while half a dozen people were left injured.

Such incidents have multiple times forced the courts to intervene and seek solutions so that such tragedies are not repeated.

Long queue, traffic problem

The majority of the devotees visiting temples in the city complained about two things: a long queue to enter the temple; and the traffic congestion on some routes.