REPORT: THRISSUR POORAM-2016

REPORT: THRISSUR POORAM-2016
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION ACTIVITIES
INSTITUTE OF LAND AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT
PTP NAGAR,THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-38
Phone: 0471-236 5559; Email: directorildmkerala@gmail.com
Page 0
Report on the Disaster Risk Reduction Activities
Thrissur Pooram 2016
1. Crowd Management at Thrissur Pooram
Human stampede is identified as a major hazard that could happen during a
mass gathering event like Thrissur Pooram. Unlike in other temple festivals, the
organisers and district administration will have to address complex problems like
management of mammoth crowd, elephants and any mishap during the fireworks.
Different events take place at different locations simultaneously.
The information exchange in the technological era is still an intricacy. As the
mobile phones won't work due to signal jamming due to over-crowded receivers
under a particular antenna, the use of VHF radios are essential for emergency
communication and emergency response operations. Deploying a team of VHF radio
operators is important for emergency operation centre (EOC) at the festival venue
connecting various field locations and control rooms.
It was easy to obtain a good group of VHF Radio operators - HAM radio
operators - at Thrissur. Hence it was decided to deploy a group of HAMs to the
field.
HAMs helped in round the clock monitoring and provided undisturbed
communication throughout the festival period.
2. Hazard, Vulnerability & Risk Analysis (HVRA)
I.
Hazard Identification:
Immediately
getting
an
order
from
the
Government
(G.O.
(Rt.)
No.2296/2016/DMD Dt. 16/04/2016), a program schedule was made available in
advance from the District Administration, Thrissur. Human stampede during
Thrissur Pooram may happen due to many reasons such as:

Rush of people to a special place : With different events in different regions
of the temple premises, people may try entering into a special place for better
view of the events may result in crowding, suffocation, collapse of structures
and stampede.

Rumours: Spread of rumour about an accident, elephant-man conflict,
stampede or any threat in and around the venue.

Accidents: Fire accident during fireworks, collapse of structures, mishaps
during elephant Processions.

Confined space: Lack of space to accommodate the crowd might increase the
magnitude and intensity if anything goes wrong.
[ILDM]
Page 1
II.
Vulnerability & Risk Analysis:
Considering the facts , discussions were undertaken with DC, DM Deputy collector,
DM session, representatives of SEOC both individually and in group. It is identified
that there are few key locations which are susceptible to any mishap during the
festival time. The locations identified and associated risks are given below:
a. Vulnerable Roads and Hubs:
 Municipal Road
 Shaktan Bus Stand,
 High Road
 North Bus Stand,
 MG Road
 Municipal Stand
 Shornur Road
 KSRTC Bus Stand
 Palace Road,
 Railway Station
 Medical College Road
These roads connect the temple ground with
other locations and hubs of the city. If any
mishap occurs, people try to escape through
these road and may result in conflicts and
stampede at the hubs & routes.
Risk #1: Stampede
b. Vulnerable Location #1: Pooram Exhibition
Stall
The Pooram exhibition stall is one of the hot
spot in the Pooram locality. Thousand of
people visit the site for purchase at any time.
Risk #1: Collapse of structure
Risk #2: Stampede
Risk #3: Electrocution and fire
c. Vulnerable Location #2: Kudamattom Area
The major attraction of the Thrissur Pooram is
the
event
named
Kudamattom.
Sixteen
elephants with Chamayam stand face to face
and periodically wear colourful umbrellas.
The event is followed by Panchavadhyam.
Thousands of spectators enjoy the event with
excitement standing in and around the
Pooram ground.
[ILDM]
Page 2
Risk #1: Man-animal conflict
Risk #2: Stampede
d. Vulnerable Location #3: Madathil Varavu Area
The route from Madom is a narrow way, through which many elephants
followed by Melam moves to the ground as a Procession. If anything goes
wrong, say elephant conflict, the people would panic and try to escape
through the narrow path eventually leading to a stampede situation.
Moreover, the narrow lane causes the evacuation procedure tedious and slow
making the area highly vulnerable.
Risk #1: Electrification
Risk #2: Stampede
e. Vulnerable Location #4: Illanjithara Melam Area
Thousands of people gather inside the temple to watch the delighting
percussion performance called Illangithara Melam. The event lasts for
minimum 2-3 hours and the people inside the temple get suffocated due to
hotness and thirst. There are only 2 entrance/exit doors in the temple at the
time of this event. When the suffocated people try to come outside for relief,
the people eagerly waiting outside try to penetrate inside the temple to watch
the event simultaneously. This results havoc.
Risk #1: Stampede
3. Mitigation
For the effective management of crowds to reduce the Disaster Risks, 9 strategic
points were identified and deployed minimum of one HAM operator in each of
these locations. The identified
points are given below:
Strategic points:
1. Control room - Pavilion
Lat / long : N 10.522
E076.2156
A
control
room
space
(Pavilion) was setup with
other
operation
Police,
[ILDM]
Emergency
teams
NDRF,
like
Health,
Page 3
Forest , Elephant Squad, Revenue , Disaster Management Telecommunication
Wireless team. The control room setup could be helpful to take decisions in a
coordinated manner. It is important to know the movement of crowd in a
particular area at any time.
2. Municipal Road - Junction
After the 'Kottiyirakam' (Procession), the elephants
coming out of the south entrance and stands towards
north. The people coming from south – Nayarangadi,
Pattalam road and Ayyanthole road bottle into
municipal office junction, where in there is a chance of
conflicts and stampedes.
3. Skylord building
Lat/long :N 10.5220 E 076.2150
At around 4.30PM, during the Kudamattam, there
can have a heavy rush of people. Around 30 elephants
gather in the south face of the Vadakkumnathan
Temple and Procession continues for 2hrs. Further
fireworks can be keenly observed. In addition the entire
Skylord Building
south ground can be viewed. Hence Skylord building is
identified as a strategic point.
4. Elite International Hotel
Lat/Long :N 10.5221 E 076.2139
A HAM radio operator deployed on the top of
the
Elite
Hotel
building
can
have
constant
communication with the district collector and can give
an update during fireworks in the early morning.
5. City centre
Lat/Long :N 10.52584 E 076.2120
During the early morning on 18/04/16 at 3AM,
the firework begins. This is one of the highest points at
Elite International Hotel
the west face of the temple. The fireworks of both
group ends in a spot that needs a bird's eye view.
6. DEOC
A hub in the district administration to keep in
constant touch with the stakeholder departments in
relation to Thrissur Pooram is essential for the
emergency operations.
[ILDM]
DEOC
Page 4
7. Inside temple – Near Illanjithara
At
around
2.30PM,
there
will
be
heavy
rush
inside
the
Vadakkumnathan Temple for the Melam inside. Since there is only two
entry/exit doors to the temple during this time, if something goes wrong, it
can lead to a havoc. Hence it is important to know how the crowd moves
inside the temple.
8. General Hospital
Lat/Long :N 10.5230 E 076.2170
In case of accidents or need for any emergency medical facilities,
General hospital is the nearest available option near the south east corner of
Thrissur round.
9. South Tower
Lat/Long :N 10.5244 E076.2135
Deploying a HAM radio personnel in the top of the south tower gives a
birds- eye view of the activities and movements inside the temple.
The operators were posted from 12.00 PM on 17/4/16 to 12.00 PM on 18/4/16
depending on event-wise priority
Figure-1: Map showing different strategic points where the HAM radio operators
were deployed.
[ILDM]
Page 5
4. Disaster Risk Reduction Activities
Amidst the heavy rush, mammoth crowd and fireworks, HAM radio team
was able to function efficiently and effectively for the 36 hour extravaganza. A
group of 22 people including 16 HAM radio hobbyists from across Kerala were part
of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) working from the Pooram Control
Centre in the pavilion. The disaster management team was a joint venture of State
Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) – Institute of Land and Disaster
Management (ILDM) – State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) & District
Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) Thrissur. The activities were coordinated
by Amalraj.M, Assistant Professor, ILDM and Mrs Sruthi , Hazard analyst from the
SEOC.
Primary duty of the team was to monitor and mange the crowd, to help the
people suffering from heat waves and fatigue during the event and taking them to
hospital in a timely manner during the different stages of the event during different
time which was successfully done.
In the view of the disaster that happened in the Paravoor Temple, Kollam
special ammunition teams and disaster response force were ready at each stage of
the fireworks and were in constant communication with the EOC team in the
Pooram Control Centre.
4.1 Temporal Distribution of Activities
17/4/16– Sunday
6.30AM – 11.30AM
The event started on Sunday morning with the start of small Processions to
Vadakumnathan temple (CheruPoorams) from KanimangalamSastha followed by
KaramukkuBhagavathy,
NeythilakkavuBhagavathy,
PanamukkamballiSadtha,
Choorakkottukavu
Devi,
AyyantholeKarthyayani
and
ChembukkavuKarthyayani temples.
Since there was lesser crowd during
these hours, there was no special
deployment of persons on sites. The
control
and
the
activities
were
monitored from the control centre
HAM RADIO OPERATORS IN THE EOC
(Pavilion).
[ILDM]
Page 6
11.30AM – 2.00PM
The events progressed with the Procession of Thiruvambady temple to the
Brahmasvam Madam (Madathil Varavu). The width of the road was too small. The
team were alert on the possibilities of stampede. The activities were thoroughly
monitored at the control centre with HAMs.
2.00PM - 4.00PM
The Procession of Paramekavu temple entered into the Vadakumnathan temple. The
event (Ilanjithara Melam) inside the temple lasted for 2.30hrs. Two people from the
HAM team were deployed inside the temple to monitor the activities. In the mean
time the Procession from Thiruvambady temple entered the temple and was ready to
make an exit through the south face of the temple. Everything went on soft and
swift inside. The activities were reported then and there with the EOC at Pooram
Control Centre (Pavilion) and SEOC Trivandrum.
4.30PM – 6.30PM
The elephant Procession of Paramekavu temple followed by Thiruvambady temple
with 15 elephants made an exit through the south face turret of the temple. The
Paramekavu temple elephants proceeded towards the statue at the south end of the
exit and made a halt at the municipal road junction. During this time, HAM radio
operators were assigned in the municipal road junction, municipal road, repeater
station, general hospital and SEOC . The exchange of umbrellas by the two temple
groups concluded smoothly. During these times the assigned operators were in
constant communication with the emergency operations centre in the pavilion and
Collectoaret DEOC giving updates on the crowd movements & other activities.
6.30PM – 10.30PM
Other smaller Processions still continued,
while the main 2 Processions proceeded back
to their bases. The wireless updates were
given at frequent times monitoring different
activities were there is chance of crowd
gathering. The informations from EOC was
shared to the District Emergency Operations
Centre accordingly.
Sub Collector Thrissur in the Control Room
[ILDM]
Page 7
18/4/16 – Monday
11.00PM – 1.30AM
The Processions from Paramekavu and Thiruvambady temple proceeded to the
temple round with 5 elephants each, along with percussions. In the meantime, the
HAM radio operators were being assigned at their respected positions for the
fireworks that begin at 3AM.
2.00AM – 5.30AM
The HAM operators were assigned duty at city centre, south tower, Elite Hotel,
Municipal road, General hospital, DEOC and Pavilion. At each stages of the
preparation of the fireworks to the execution of the ammunition by both the groups
(Thiruvambady and Paramekavu) were closely monitored by the HAM radio
operators and the crowd movements in the different roads that lead to the swaraj
round was also monitored. With extreme care and safety options the fireworks were
executed successfully by organisers with no causalities.
6.00AM – 10.00AM
The dispersal of crowd from the swaraj round to the KSRTC bus stands and railway
station was monitored and were updated to the operations centre (Pavilion)
11.00AM – 2.00PM
The Processions (PakalPooram) in the morning along with fireworks in the afternoon
was monitored at the emergency operations centre at the Pavilion and was made
sure that everything went fine. The first report (draft) of the programme was
submitted to the district administration on the day itself. As directed from the
District Administration, the activities came to an end by 02.30pm.
[ILDM]
Page 8
ANNEXURE-I
Sl.No
Area Deployed
Call Sign
NAME
Phone number
1.
Pavilion
VU3WPM
Vinod
9947407000
2.
Ilanjitharamelam-Temple
VU3VTF
Priyan Sagar
9037393245
3.
Pavilion
VU20LB
Amal
9847984527
4.
Pavilion
VU2EAC
Biju
9895524232
5.
Municipal Road
VU2DAA
Venu
9895908291
6.
Link Station
VU3KBN
Murugan
9496913683
7.
Repeater
VU2ADV
Jacob
9447143807
8.
South Tower
VU3VGO
Gopu
9633056111
9.
Elite Hotel
VU2GTX
Tony
9142111412
10.
DEOC
VU3PVS
Subramanian
9497475601
11.
Municipal Road
VU3BBN
Babu
9995294801
12.
City Centre
VU3EDF
Simson
9400291656
13.
City Centre
VU2MJE
Monsyjose
9605072626
14.
General Hospital
VU3LST
Leo
9995939164
15.
Repeater
VU2DTH
Manoj Galaxi
9447214419
16.
SEOC
VU2 SGQ
Saji K George
9895926358
17
Link Station
VU2AJO
Table-1: Name and ID of the HAM radio operators deployed at different strategic
points
[ILDM]
Page 9
ANNEXURE-II
Figure-2: Lay out of the Thrissur Pooram Control Room
[ILDM]
Page 10
ANNEXURE-III
Table-2: Thrissur Pooram Schedule 2016
[ILDM]
Page 11