COP-ING WITH 'UNRULY' CROWD

THE TVK rally that took a tragic turn at Karur, resulting in a stampede and death of 41 people, has exposed the inability of the police to leverage intelligence in preparing for mass crowds and dynamically manage large, restless, and undisciplined crowd in a public place.

- SIDDHARTH PRABHAKAR Chenral

In some official circles, there is a consensus that the intelligence wing could have done a better job to prevent the tragedy, as there were multiple ominous signs. When the police personnel realised they would not be able to control the crowd at Velusamypuram, they should have exercised their powers and asked the organisers to call off the rally, said officials.

Senior officials said as far as maintenance of law and order is concerned, the buck stops with the police. Nonetheless, a training module issued by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) under the Union Home Ministry puts the onus of crowd management on coordinated efforts between the enforcement agencies and the event manager, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) in this case.

Before permitting rallies like these, officials vet a few pointers like size of the expected crowd, suitability of the venue, impact on traffic and manoeuvrability of emergency vehicles.

While the police personnel are in charge of checking for risks, setting rules like time limit, and keeping crowd under control, the organisers have to provide correct schedule, and assist the personnel in managing the crowd and arranging basic necessities like toilet, water, and food.