CGST Chandigarh, Panchkula organise cyclothons
As many as 200 cyclists from tricity participated in cyclothons organised by the CGST Chandigarh and Panchkula Commissionerate on Sunday. The cyclothon in Chandigarh started from the Sukhna Lake with chief guest JS Negi (IRS), CGST chief commissioner, Chandigarh Zone, flagging off the event. Meanwhile, in Panchkula, the ADC Appeals commissionerate Sunder Lal (IRS) inaugurated the event from the GST Bhawan.
The event formed a key part of a series of outreach and awareness initiatives undertaken to celebrate the GST journey and enhance public engagement with India's landmark tax reform. The event served as a prelude to the GST Day celebrated each year on July 1, and was a part of the signature campaign of 'Fit India movement – Sundays on Cycle'.
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Economic Times
2 days ago
- Economic Times
Cities have failing infra and poor crowd management SOPs say Urban planners
An evening of celebration for RCB turned into a tragedy at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where a stampede claimed 11 lives, highlighting the cracks in the city's civic planning and crowd control systems. Citizens and experts alike have questioned the government's preparedness and the promise of 'Brand Bengaluru' to handle large gatherings, especially at high-footfall venues. Urban planners told ET that not just Bengaluru, but many civic agencies in Indian cities fail to have robust standing operating procedures (SOPs) for crowd management. 'We tend to employ very ad hoc measures to manage crowds, poor fencing, lack of proper pathways, poor lighting and lack of emergency services,' said Ujjvala Krishna, urban researcher at WELL labs. She added that there is a clear lack of foresight in building long-term infrastructure that anticipates such scale.'Bengaluru doesn't have an active master plan. The Regional and Metropolitan Area Master Plan for 2031 is still a draft. It's more like a reference. Other major metros like Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai have active master plans,' Krishna said. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which makes rules for handling disasters in India, released a guide in 2014 to help state governments, local bodies, event organisers, and police manage large crowds safely. The guideline titled 'Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering' suggests that before any big event, authorities should do a Rapid Venue Assessment to check preparedness. This includes an 11-point checklist evaluating aspects such as disaster preparedness, stakeholder coordination, crowd flow, safety, emergency response, ability to manage complexity, and potential for crowd growth, all rated on a scale from poor to best in urban planner from Bengaluru with over 30 years of experience in architecture and urban design said civic bodies are supposed to have SOPs. 'It's a combination problems of law and order, traffic management, and civic bodies. I don't think they have individual SOPs or even a common one,' he said, suggesting that such celebrations can be delayed by a day or two and organised with proper planning. The NDMA has also issued Guidelines on the Incident Response System (IRS), to ensure that there is a structured and coordinated emergency response. The guideline emphasises the need to encourage research on crowd behaviour and psychology to better inform planning and risk mitigation at mass urban planner said mismanagement of crowds is not an isolated incident. 'We've had enough of these events to actually learn from them. The answer lies in capacitating our governance systems to deliver better,' the expert said, requesting is not the first time a stampede has claimed lives. Earlier this year on February 15, a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station resulted in 18 people losing their lives. During Maha Kumbh in Prayaraj on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, where lakhs arrived to take a holy dip at the Sangam, 30 died and over 60 were injured despite advisories and emergency policy advisors also highlighted that cities continue to build for lower capacity than needed. They pointed out that metro cities have inadequate road infrastructure, pavements barely exist, and public mobility services are congested and worn down.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Cities have failing infra and poor crowd management SOPs say Urban planners
An evening of celebration for RCB turned into a tragedy at Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium, where a stampede claimed 11 lives, highlighting the cracks in the city's civic planning and crowd control systems. Citizens and experts alike have questioned the government's preparedness and the promise of 'Brand Bengaluru' to handle large gatherings, especially at high-footfall venues. Urban planners told ET that not just Bengaluru, but many civic agencies in Indian cities fail to have robust standing operating procedures (SOPs) for crowd management. 'We tend to employ very ad hoc measures to manage crowds, poor fencing, lack of proper pathways, poor lighting and lack of emergency services,' said Ujjvala Krishna, urban researcher at WELL labs. She added that there is a clear lack of foresight in building long-term infrastructure that anticipates such scale. 'Bengaluru doesn't have an active master plan. The Regional and Metropolitan Area Master Plan for 2031 is still a draft. It's more like a reference. Other major metros like Mumbai, Delhi, and Chennai have active master plans,' Krishna said. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), which makes rules for handling disasters in India, released a guide in 2014 to help state governments, local bodies, event organisers, and police manage large crowds safely. The guideline titled 'Managing Crowd at Events and Venues of Mass Gathering' suggests that before any big event, authorities should do a Rapid Venue Assessment to check preparedness. This includes an 11-point checklist evaluating aspects such as disaster preparedness, stakeholder coordination, crowd flow, safety, emergency response, ability to manage complexity, and potential for crowd growth, all rated on a scale from poor to best in class. Another urban planner from Bengaluru with over 30 years of experience in architecture and urban design said civic bodies are supposed to have SOPs. 'It's a combination problems of law and order, traffic management, and civic bodies. I don't think they have individual SOPs or even a common one,' he said, suggesting that such celebrations can be delayed by a day or two and organised with proper planning. The NDMA has also issued Guidelines on the Incident Response System (IRS), to ensure that there is a structured and coordinated emergency response. The guideline emphasises the need to encourage research on crowd behaviour and psychology to better inform planning and risk mitigation at mass gatherings. Another urban planner said mismanagement of crowds is not an isolated incident. 'We've had enough of these events to actually learn from them. The answer lies in capacitating our governance systems to deliver better,' the expert said, requesting anonymity. This is not the first time a stampede has claimed lives. Earlier this year on February 15, a stampede at the New Delhi Railway Station resulted in 18 people losing their lives. During Maha Kumbh in Prayaraj on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya, where lakhs arrived to take a holy dip at the Sangam, 30 died and over 60 were injured despite advisories and emergency preparations. Urban policy advisors also highlighted that cities continue to build for lower capacity than needed. They pointed out that metro cities have inadequate road infrastructure, pavements barely exist, and public mobility services are congested and worn down.
Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Himachal: 89 Pong Dam oustees get land allotment certificates
Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, during a public meeting in Haripur in Dehra assembly constituency of Kangra, on Tuesday handed over land allotment certificates to 89 Pong Dam oustees. Sukhu said the issue of Pong Dam oustees was raised by the local MLA before the government that they have been suffering for the past 50 years and even had to struggle to get their documents. 'The state government is now granting them their due rights. The remaining displaced families will also be allotted land in the near future. Additionally, each family will receive ₹3 lakh as financial assistance for building homes,' he added. 'For the past 25 years, this constituency did not have any Congress legislator. An independent MLA from Dehra resigned in arrogance. Kamlesh Thakur was elected in the by-election as a Congress MLA 11 months ago. Since then, Dehra has been witnessing development,' he said. The CM also assured completion of the Nandpur bridge by December this year. He also said that the state government was establishing 'Adarsh Swasthya Sansthan's' in all 68 assembly constituencies with six specialist doctors in each. He said the community health centre (CHC), Haripur, would be made 'Adarsh Swasthya Sansthan'. He announced ₹2 crore for the construction of residential accommodation for doctors. Sukhu further said that the state government had shifted the wildlife office of the forest department from Shimla to Dharamshala and that more government offices would be moved to Kangra district to decongest the Shimla city soon. He said that the implementation of GST had caused significant losses to Himachal Pradesh as before GST, the state used to receive ₹3,000 crore annually, but now it gets only ₹150 crore. He criticised the previous BJP government for 'plundering the state's resources'.
