Stampede Tickets
Off The Ground For 60 Seconds
Off the ground for 60 seconds
I had gone for some work to a place in UP called Kanpur. If you rate Chandigarh as No1 well planned and the most well maintained city in India you can rate this city as no 1 from the bottom of the most well planned cities list in India. The first curse of the city rather the state is the population which makes it difficult for the administration to control the connected problems related with it. The streets are narrow, filthy, unplanned, the traffic sense is near zero, the crowd ,the heat, the dust, the noise all above the safe limits of an acceptable standard but the show is still going on. One place where you can breathe properly is the cantonment and the second in the IIT campus apart from few green manned patches.
I was to board a train from the railway station at Kanpur for Allahabad, a short distance of about 4 hours in a normal train. I got into a long queue for getting the ticket after my friend left me at the station as I did not have a reserved ticket since the distance was short and there was no fixed plan. The rush was very heavy due to ‘Magh Mela' celebrations at Allahabad so all the trains were going packed. I somehow managed to get a ticket and proceeded to platform No 2 where the train was to arrive after about half an hour.
To proceed to platform no 2, I had to cross over a bridge which connected it to PF no 1. The stairs were wide about 5m in width and the rise and tread of the steps was also comfortable with a strong railing on both the sides of the steps for the old and weak to hold it and pull themselves up. The young lot was generally in the centre with women behind their men to take cover and follow their footsteps as some were holding child in their laps. The men were holding the luggage on their heads as were mostly from the labour class category which formed the major chunk of the crowd. Some children were seen holding the fingers of their parents and quietly climbing the stairs in the crowd. The rush was more than expected. Suddenly there was an announcement that some other train would also arrive nearly at the same time on platform no 3 (which was adjacent side of PF no2) instead of PF no 4. As soon as this was announced there was a sudden shift of the rush and everyone from the PF no 4 started to arrive at PF no3 through the stairs and soon there was no space left even to walk.
Soon the crush gathered so much momentum that it was becoming difficult to even stand leave apart walking. I somehow reached the top of the bridge and started to move towards the PF no 2. As I reached the steps to get down to PF no2 to ensure safety of my belongings on my body I kept one hand on my purse on my rear trouser pocket while with the other I was holding a small bag lifted up in the air in front of my face with my forearm tightly pressed against my mobile kept in the front shirt pocket. I got stuck in the mass and was not able to proceed further. I tried to make my way through but could not budge an inch. Soon I saw some of the kids started yelling, the ladies had even started screaming for space. The situation was getting worse every second and I soon realised that if this continues it may lead to a stampede in which many would be injured. The first thing which came to my mind was to reach to a safe location as I was caught in the middle of the crowd where I could barely move and for getting some support just in case the situation worsens further and lead to a stampede. The only safe place which I could notice nearest to me was a pillar at the starting point of the descending stairs at the edge of the steps from where they started. I tried my level best to reach there but was unable to move since was tightly packed by the human bodies from all the sides although the pillar was just about 3m away from me.
For immediate relief my plan was to reach the pillar, holding it climb the railing and stand on it as it would give me air to breathe and be out from the crush as I expected a stampede in next few minutes. I feared that if somebody fell on the ground it would be very difficult for him to get up and would soon be crushed under the crowd. Fearing this I then applied all my strength and took a step forward towards the pillar forcing my way through and with great difficulty managed to take my right foot up off the ground to advance towards the pillar but when I tried to put it down to land on the ground for taking my next step of lifting the left foot I failed to succeed as there was no place to land my right foot down on the floor so I was literally standing on one leg only.
Now all the weight of my body was on my left leg and I stood in that awkward position for quiet a long time as a result of which my left ankle started paining like hell. My backbone also started paining soon since I was unable to stand straight. As I was trying to adjust myself to a comfortable position a rush wave came from the rear which pushed the complete group standing next to me towards the steps as a result I was also pushed ahead which detached my left foot also from the ground. Now I was in the air with both my feet off the ground with my body weight being taken care of by the horizontal forces of the human bodies who were tightly pressed against me in the crush to finally transfer it to the floor through their legs and this frightened me as I did not have any control over my body anymore. My movements were now with the disturbance wave. I swayed and floated like this for 60 seconds like a top of the eucalyptus tree in strong winds , the moment which I cannot forget all my life. I only desired if I could just get an opportunity to touch the ground for taking a push with full force on the ground and dive on to the pillar to get out of this situation since I was losing confidence every second to bail out unscratched. The matter was getting serious since there were chances of my falling down flat on the ground along with the rush wave which would have led to serious injuries as I would not have got a chance to get up so easily.
All of a sudden I saw the movement of the crowd as one of the trains arrived at the station on PF no 3 which diverted the rush of the waiting passengers to board the train and as a result created some space allowing me to land on floor after I immediately rushed towards the pillar and climbed the railing to save myself . I thanked my stars for helping me reach a safe position and now the whole crowd was under my vision with me standing like a policeman on an island watching everyone. In order to ease the situation I then shouted at the people who had got down from the train and were advancing towards the bridge to stop them from coming up the stairs as this would block the passage of passengers who were going down the bridge.
Suddenly I saw three people falling down at the bottom of the bridge and everyone rolled over them, the stampede had started and about 15 to 20 of them rolled over each other including ladies and kids. Some somersaulted, some side rolled while some fell flat. The area was filled with shrieks and screams and it appeared that it is the end of those fallen.The situation was however brought under control as the policemen took charge of the situation with their Lathis (big sticks) with which the newcomers to the crowd diverted their direction of move towards the crowd and this avoided making the situation complex. The policemen however lost their caps in action and some even rolled in the crowd who got up abusing everyone around.
When the train left the station the remaining crowd was diverted to other direction to reach the exit from the railway tracks since the bridge was already packed. The injured were helped by their companions and fortunately no one was hurt badly. Had the situation not brought under control I am sure there would have been several casualties. The situation eased of slowly and soon there was movement seen on the bridge after which I got down from the railing and went to board the train which arrived in next few minutes.
Incidentally I found that the front and the rear portion of the platform were not crowded as the concentration of the rush was restricted to the centre of the platform only. It was a fit case for study of poor management of the staff and nothing else. First of all had the rush been diverted to other platform by the management this situation could have been avoided and secondly there should have been some guides from the ‘May I help you' booth to help the public evenly distribute the rush all along the platform which would have not allowed them to concentrate at one place on the platform. Anyway it was a lucky day that everyone reached their respective destinations safely. Lesson learnt for the day was
Firstly avoid the rush at any cost.
If you are too late to decide and are into it then,
Whenever you feel that the rush of the crowd may increase and there is no way out immediately start moving away from the centre of the crowd to a side and climb up some high place.
About the Author
The author is a civil engineer and an officer in govt services
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