Nishagandhi open-air auditorium struggles to handle crowd surge during Onam celebrations

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The limitations of the Nishagandhi open-air auditorium as a venue for major events, that draw huge crowds, were evident once again during the Onam week celebrations. The concert featuring playback singers, Chinmayi and Vineeth Sreenivasan, held during the past two days drew an overwhelming audience, far exceeding the carrying capacity of the facility. The police, on Tuesday evening, had a hard time managing the crowd leading to manhandling and lathicharge during the concluding event of the week-long Onam celebrations organised by the Kerala Tourism. Nishagandhi the popular auditorium which was the main venue of the Onam week celebrations has a capacity to hold around 2,000- 2,500 people. As per estimates with the city corporation, approximately over 5 lakh people arrived in the capital to witness the annual Onam Pageantry that marks the conclusion of the Onam celebrations. The turnout, much larger than anticipated, caused congestion, both inside and around the premises, raising serious concerns over safety and crowd management. With its restricted seating and limited entry and exit points, the venue struggled to accommodate the thousands who flocked to watch the celebrity performers. An official source said that Kanakakunnu witnessed record footfall on Tuesday. The Onam pageantry began early and a large majority of the crowd who came to see the event visited Kanakakunnu where the musical programme was happening, causing things to go out of control, said the official.With crowd management becoming a major concern at Nishagandhi, the Museum police have given reports to the higher authorities to organise only ticketed events or programmes with entry passes. An official of the Museum police told TNIE that Nishagandhi auditorium is ideal only for events with entry passes. The organisers of the event should provide entry passes to control the crowd. When its an open event, people come out in large numbers making it impossible to manage the crowd. No matter how many police officials we deploy, it will not be enough, said the official. However, the tourism department feels that Nishagandhi is ideal for large events. Former Fire and Rescue Services DGP A Hemachandran said that effective crowd control at popular events necessitates a proactive and rigorous approach, starting with an independent evaluation of carrying capacity based on anticipated crowd size and popularity. Its a tough decision, but blocking entry once capacity is reached is crucial to prevent unmanageable situations similar to what tragically occurred at Cusat. We must also ensure clear exit points and adequate lighting so that the public can evacuate from the space safely. Segmenting the crowd is another way to manage the crowd, said A Hemachandran. According to the organisers of the event, LED walls were erected in two locations to show the musical event live for people from outside the auditorium. MLA V K Prasanth said that the crowd arrived in large numbers. Next year onwards we will install more LED live streaming walls in many places within the premises to avoid such a situation, said Prasanth.