Do crowded lives in India matter at all?

Even in the best of times, keeping a queue in India is challenging. In the worst of times, we get life-taking stampedes. This reality is far too often overlooked when approving large public gatherings, as evidenced in UP's debacle at Hathras on Tuesday. Over 120 people - mostly women and children - lost their lives while attempting to follow a godman and reportedly collect dust from his car's tyre trail after a satsang ended. An FIR has been registered against the organisers. In other words, an attempt is being made to close the stable door after the horse has bolted.

District officials reportedly granted permission after organisers understated numbers to evade restrictions and enhance RoIs. No worst-case scenario prep was conducted. 70 police personnel were said to have been deployed for what turned out to be 2.5 lakh people. There was no digital surveillance employed to monitor crowd density and potential bottlenecks, no ambulances, no medical stations. Entry and exit points were poorly marked, with a large pit nearby. Third-world conditions don't sit pretty with first-world hallucinations.

India, a crowded nation that should take extra measures, not less, has sadly witnessed far too many crowding accidents. It's ironic that such anarchic conditions in religious gatherings contradict the very safety, tranquillity and, indeed, comfort that faith is supposed to provide metaphysically. There is no reason why physical surroundings at congregations should give a damn to human safety or lives that design, orderly crowd management, and effective supervision and communication can provide. It's not rocket science, as the successful handling of Kumbh melas after years of regular tragedies proves. Let Indian lives matter in smaller gatherings too.