Registered with the Registrar of Newspapers for India under R.N.I 53640/91
Vol. XXXIV No. 13, October 16-31, 2024
Chennai’s public pays the price for lessons unlearnt
-- by Varsha V.
The October 6 airshow at the Marina beach for the IAF’s 92nd anniversary celebrations has been a let-down for the public, for the lakhs of people that had gathered for the event were not accorded sufficient arrangements. Public transport services appear to have run as usual, with no additional capacities to account for the surge in passengers; buses as well as the MRTS and metro trains were filled to the brim from the very morning of the event, and the lack of feeder services made itself felt. The amenities at the venue also proved to be inadequate, as complaints emerged later of shortage of food, water and toilet facilities. However, it was after the event ended that deadly chaos broke out,for a strategy was not in place to offer a safe exit to the attendees. That day, the city lost five souls and saw hundreds of others needing medical care.
Various reasons were given for the debacle. This writer felt disappointed that apologists were among the first to make statements on the issue. The scorching heat was blamed, and a few raised questions as to why attendees were ill-prepared for the weather conditions; there were also some that sought to deflect accountability from the administration onto other stakeholders.
Some said that the authorities did not anticipate the crowds that turned up for the airshow. This claim is a hard one to swallow – the event was widely publicised, and its press release made mention that ‘lakhs of spectators’ were expected at Chennai; media reports preceding the show said that between ten to fifteen lakh people were anticipated, adding that the IAF would attempt a Limca record. If nothing else, the crowds making their way to the beach on the morning of the event ought to have been a warning signal to the civic authorities.
At the end of the day, there’s no skirting the elephant in the room – the city authorities need to pull up their socks and fulfil their responsibilities when it comes to ensuring public safety at large-scale events.
After all, this isn’t the first time that Chennai has received complaints about badly planned arrangements for mass gatherings or crowds on the move – some examples that come to mind are the AR Rahman concert last year; and the overcrowding problem in trains earlier this June. Why, this isn’t even the first time that the city has been criticised for a poorly planned airshow – the last one to take place was in 2003, and people were not happy about the traffic management and public transport services back then, either. Has the city learned nothing from past mistakes?
So much could have been done to offer people a better experience. For one, there ought to have been widely publicised PSAs about preparing for the heat at the live event. There should have also been a minimum standard set for food, water and toilet facilities, and entry should have been restricted only to the number that could be safely taken care of. Also, there are multiple public spaces throughout the city – what prevents local authorities from organising airshow screenings for the neighbourhood at the local parks and nearby stadiums? Surely, that could have helped ease the strain on service capacities at the venue.
It beggars belief that lessons in public safety and management – so clear in hindsight – could not have been learned from past botched events. One hopes that the latest disaster, at the very least, will be analysed to make the requisite corrections. When push comes to shove, those who underwent the ordeal aren’t looking for mere explanations – they, and the rest of the city, want a civic administration that recognises it can do better and steps up to the challenge.
