2 weeks Ago By Ujwal Jalali
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. 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.
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. “I had to wait for an hour to reach inside the temple,” Sarika Jain, a 45-year-old woman, said who had come to visit a famous temple in southeast Delhi. A young man at a north Delhi temple also raised the issue of traffic and parking space which he claimed was not available even half a kilometre away from the temple.
Though this time, the cleanliness has been given attention by the temple authorities, some people complained of “prasad” lying scattered on the floor. Meanwhile, speaking on the safety provisions implemented at the pandal, Swapan Chakravorty, vice president, Matri Mandir Samity at Safdarjung Enclave, said all electric cables installed at the pandal are hidden above the make-shift fall ceiling. “Besides, we have deployed a staff of 200 security guards to manage the crowd.
The police have also ensured us with additional force to manage any crowd incident like a stampede,” he said. Cops’ preparedness Joint Commissioner of Police (southern range) SK Jain recently inspected the arrangements at the Durga Puja Pandal at CR Park in southeast Delhi. The Chitranjan Park Pandal is one of the most famous, with stunning decor that brings the spirit of West Bengal alive and attracts a huge crowd of people.
The senior officer informed that they have held separate meetings with all the organisers and heard their problems and past experiences. “We have prepared checklists to ensure better security, crowd management, and medical facilities so that devotees have a pleasant experience,” Jain said. Another officer said that CCTV cameras are being installed in and around the pandal area whose footage will be constantly monitored.
Delhi Fire Service Director Atul Garg told that they have granted fire safety clearance to 800 applicants for holding Ramlila and Durga Puja this year. “We have issued fire safety guidelines to 800 applicants this year,” the top official said. Notably, instruction for fire safety in respect of temporary structures or pandals is a self-regulatory process and requires no certificate.
The fire department just issues some guidelines which have to be duly followed by the organisers. Another officer said that as a precautionary measure, the DFS has stationed fire tenders near those places where there will be a heavy rush of devotees so that safety measures are swiftly taken..
