In India, large gatherings are not rare disruptions. They are the norm. Cricket victories, political rallies, religious festivals, celebrity appearances, airport inaugurations — each can summon thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, into open public spaces, often with little formal planning. These crowds reflect India’s energy and scale.
But they also present a persistent challenge: how to manage such gatherings safely, predictably, and without incident. Recent tragedies have highlighted the cost of poor crowd management. But the solution lies not in stricter enforcement or post-incident inquiry. It lies in something India’s governance structures too often overlook: systemic planning. Crowds in India are changing. They no longer assemble only for annual religious rituals or pre-scheduled political events. Instead, many now form spontaneously — mobilised in minutes via social media, often in semi-urban spaces not designed to handle them.
They are less hierarchical, more mobile, and more complex to anticipate. Policing such crowds with traditional methods — barricades, loudhailers, baton units — is both inefficient and increasingly inadequate. Frontline officers are experienced but often under-resourced. What is needed is not better policing, but better governance. India would benefit from codifying its approach to mass gatherings into a National Framework for Crowd Management. This would not be a one-size-fits-all mandate but a flexible, tiered system of planning protocols — classified by crowd size, event type, and infrastructure profile.
Such a framework could formalise practices that are currently ad hoc. Risk assessments, exit planning, inter-agency co-ordination, and deployment checklists should be standard procedures, not left to individual discretion. Crowd safety should be integrated into disaster management plans and urban planning policies, rather than remaining solely the responsibility of district police officers. At the district level, the introduction of Joint Operations Centres (JOCs) — multi-agency units that co-ordinate planning and response during significant events — could vastly improve efficiency. Police, health services, fire departments, transportation authorities, and municipal bodies should work from a shared playbook with clear lines of authority and command. Technology can also do more of the heavy lifting. Many Indian cities are now equipped with CCTV networks and drone units.
These assets, combined with crowd-modelling software and AI-based density tracking, can provide real-time alerts and enable pre-emptive responses. In high-risk events, AI heatmaps can help guide crowd dispersal, monitor entry flows, and identify potential pressure points before they escalate into dangerous situations. However, few police units have access to this technology in a usable, integrated form.
The Ministry of Home Affairs could bridge this gap by funding state-level pilot projects through the Modernisation of Police Forces scheme. Partnerships with Indian research institutions and private tech firms could yield homegrown solutions suited to India’s unique conditions. Physical infrastructure often determines whether a crowd flows or clogs. India’s urban spaces frequently lack adequate signage, multiple exits, or directional guidance for mass movement. Cities should be encouraged, through innovative city programmes or urban development grants, to incorporate crowd-conscious design into their routine infrastructure upgrades. For recurring high-density events, such as pilgrimages or local festivals, temporary modular infrastructure (barricades, elevated walkways, digital signage, and mobile medical units) can be deployed.
No system of control is complete without public co-operation. In moments of panic, communication — fast, accurate, and trusted — is critical. Police forces should develop public messaging strategies tailored to event type and local language, using both digital platforms and community networks. In areas with recurring gatherings, citizen engagement, through resident welfare associations, local leaders, and panchayats, can enhance both awareness and compliance. India’s police forces learn constantly, but often in isolation. A national repository of After-Action Reports — brief, structured analyses of crowd events — could be maintained by the Bureau of Police Research and Development. Accountability, too, must evolve.
(The author is DGP and Head, Haryana State Narcotics Control Bureau. Views are personal)
