PLUNGED TO DEATH
Double whammy for Darjeeling
Double whammy for Darjeeling
A BRIDGE collapse doesn’t bear comparison to an earthquake. However limited the scale of the tragedy, Darjeeling has suffered a double whammy in the span of a few weeks. With the casualty toll in the footbridge collapse across the Little Rangit river mounting to 32, the tragedy is no less heart-rending to the members of the bereaved families. Many more are battling grievous injuries in hospital, and the Chief Minister in course of her visit to the accident site has advanced a timely directive to the district administration, specifically to utilise the Rs 16-crore fund allotted recently to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. Yet it is a commentary on the decrepit state of public health that the state hospital’s CT scanner is defunct.
Well might the district administration be inclined to attribute the footbridge collapse to overenthusiastic visitors to the GJMM’s fair and cultural festival across the river. Any such event will draw crowds, more so in a district town. Implicit, therefore, is the failure of crowd management. The bridge was said to be sturdy enough to hold 20 people; alas, this was only a fraction of the 150 visitors who were jostling to cross over when it gave way. The victims fell into the Little Rangit; some may even have been swept away by its swirling current. Prima facie, it is the strategy of crowd management that failed in Darjeeling last Saturday.
It is pointless to claim in the manner of a block official that “things were fine during the day, but it seems the crowd was unmanageable in the evening”. The short point must be that any carnival ~ it is particularly colourful in the Hills ~ draws crowds in the evening. Was the police deployment adequate? Conceding that it was, it has palpably failed to restrict the numbers. It couldn’t have been unaware of the load capacity of the bridge. There obviously was no check as 150 people positioned themselves at 6.30 p.m. ~ in fading light. The military authorities have confirmed that it was too overcrowded to bear the weight of people. This administration is heir to years of neglect compounded by the near paralysis of governance in the Hills in recent times. While the collapse occurred in October 2011, it was scripted over years.
Well might the district administration be inclined to attribute the footbridge collapse to overenthusiastic visitors to the GJMM’s fair and cultural festival across the river. Any such event will draw crowds, more so in a district town. Implicit, therefore, is the failure of crowd management. The bridge was said to be sturdy enough to hold 20 people; alas, this was only a fraction of the 150 visitors who were jostling to cross over when it gave way. The victims fell into the Little Rangit; some may even have been swept away by its swirling current. Prima facie, it is the strategy of crowd management that failed in Darjeeling last Saturday.
It is pointless to claim in the manner of a block official that “things were fine during the day, but it seems the crowd was unmanageable in the evening”. The short point must be that any carnival ~ it is particularly colourful in the Hills ~ draws crowds in the evening. Was the police deployment adequate? Conceding that it was, it has palpably failed to restrict the numbers. It couldn’t have been unaware of the load capacity of the bridge. There obviously was no check as 150 people positioned themselves at 6.30 p.m. ~ in fading light. The military authorities have confirmed that it was too overcrowded to bear the weight of people. This administration is heir to years of neglect compounded by the near paralysis of governance in the Hills in recent times. While the collapse occurred in October 2011, it was scripted over years.
Editorial
The Statesman
25 Oct 2011
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