Pollution Research Paper

GIS BASED RISK ASSESSMENT, PREPAREDNESS AND PREVENTION OF CROWD DISASTER: A CASE STUDY OF RELEGIOUS PILGRIMS IN INDIA

KANTI KUMAR AND A.K. DWIVEDI

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to study of religious events in India often facing stampedes and crowd crush. Very often the local authorities are trained at crowd control rather than crowd management. The present study is based on the risk assessment, preparedness and prevention strategy of pilgrim site at Ujjain. Ujjain is one of the seven sacred cities of Hindus an ancient city since 4th B.C. in central India on the banks of river kshipra. This city is known for its great cultural and spiritual importance like Varanasi. It is also home to the sacred mahakaleshwar jyotirlinga and is the site for kumbh mela religious festival. The nature of crowd here is varied in terms of social mix, age-range and levels of exposure to life but the goal is common, i.e. to enjoy the spiritual bliss of a god with human attributes at one of the worlds largest religious congregation. The nature of offerings to the God coupled with the crowd craze to have darshan may at times enhance the possibility of a disaster. The physical features of the venue do include dead ends, locked gates, convergence of several routes into one slippery floorings and steps and at times moving attractions within a crowd. There have been cases reported of stampedes and crowd disasters in the near past. The focus is on community disaster management strategy along with administrative officials, NGOs and personnel who interact with the pilgrims.