The crowd that moves as one

Twenty five people were killed and over one hundred were injured at a stampede in Varanasi two days ago. A First Information Report was registered against the organisers of the religious procession. They had sought permissions for 3,000 people and 70,000 people had shown up instead, which is pretty common place in India. One is not sure if the organisers ought to have pre empted it, or the police in charge of crowd control. It doesn't sound like the same thing, but when the Upahar cinema hall caught fire in 1997, 59 people died of asphyxia and 103 were injured in the ensuing stampede to exit the hall. On Dusshera in Patna in 2013, 32 people died and more than 50 sustained injuries in the Gandhi maidan while watching the Ravan Vadh ceremony. In Mecca in 2015, above 2000 people died in the deadliest pilgrim disaster there ever. According to the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 79 per cent of stampedes in India occur in religious places. Compare this to western countries, where most stampedes occur at concerts and in nightclubs, and you get an idea of what gains religion-like value in each space. Or what people are willing to die attending.

Typically, when stampedes occur in India, the first thing that is announced is a message of condolence and a compensation to the next of kin. Then an inquiry is instituted, an FIR is registered and everyone pretty much goes on their way.

The crowd of pilgrims, much like a mob, is an intangible entity with no finite reasons beyond an event being 'badly organised' being proffered for the tragedy. Blame is often also laid at the doorstep of 'rumours' which causes 'panic' -- all generic causes which are equally out of anyone's hands. By this, authorities generally mean that all that was unanticipated--the strength of the crowd, the excitability of the people, the source of the rumours and the reactions of the pilgrims--ought to have been anticipated. So, nothing can ever be done about stampedes, because no one quite knows, or cares to know what causes them.

Studies by Edbert Hsu, at the John Hopkins University, researching stampedes in South Asia and Africa, have discovered that stampedes are actually on the rise.

A primary failing is the number of people who are expected to show up, common to all stampedes. The second is understanding that human beings' states of mind alter when forced into tight spaces--they tend to move as one and ignore alternate exits. Seven people moving as one, Hsu finds, "can crush steel". Most die standing up.

The National Disaster Management Authority puts out periodic updates on guidelines for organisers, but also admit no one really follows them. Most emphasis post disasters like stampedes, in which a great number of people are affected, is focused on medical aid and rescue, rather than collecting data, which leaves us none the wiser despite numerous incidents. Data for stampedes, like in much else in India, is sorely lacking.

As far as psychology goes, the Indian way is to seek a full house. The more heads the merrier. Whether the wedding or the political rally, the prayer ceremony or the film screening, we are a culture that makes a show of strength through numbers. Even our prayers are mass, which is also why there is less incentive for organisers to keep things on the down low. The idea of exclusivity, intimate gatherings, quiet displays and less being more is non existent. Till we are able to collect data to understand why stampedes occur, and put in measures that actually stop them, perhaps we could acquire more muted sensibilities, opposed to being parts of crowds that move as one.