There are certain safety measures that must be followed for events that are expected to be crowded. There are authorities who must ensure that these safety measures are followed. However, often responsible people wake up only after accidents happen. What usually happens is that the real reason for the fallout is covered up by blaming each other. Thrikkakara MLA Uma Thomas getting seriously injured after falling 15 feet from the VIP gallery at Kaloor Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium is an incident that could have been avoided if adequate safety arrangements had been made.

It will be surprising only if incidents like this 'do not' happen if people who have no knowledge and skills about safety are assigned to build a stage. Using cloth tape instead of wires or strong plastic pipes at the handrails is what mainly led to the accident. The main stage was temporarily built above the lower gallery of the stadium. The seats for the stage barely had two feet gap in front. Only a rope was tied in front of it as a precaution! Uma Thomas, who was sitting on a chair, got up and moved to the side when her foot hit the carpet and lost her balance. She grabbed this rope as a reflex. It broke and she fell down hitting her face on the concrete floor. Let's pray that she recovers from her serious injuries as soon as possible.

Aiming for a Guinness record, the ceremony held there was a Bharatnatyam performance with 12,600 dancers under the leadership of actress and dancer Divya Unni. The organizers were 'Mridanga Vision Magazine' of Wayanad. Event management groups are usually assigned to build the stage etc. The government should identify and list the qualified groups based on the criteria for preparing the stage for such mass events. Only those who have received such approval should be assigned to build venues like this. It is the responsibility of the local bodies to inspect and approve all this during the construction phase and after completion. This is often not followed here, which invites such accidents.

Last year, four people lost their lives in a stampede during a concert held as part of the Tech Fest at Cochin University of Science and Technology. After the start of Bollywood singer Nikita Gandhi's song, people outside rushed into the auditorium when it started raining, causing the accident. The FIR states that there was a major safety lapse in the Kaloor accident. The Institute of Land and Disaster Management under the Department of Revenue has issued guidelines on safety arrangements to be followed during large crowds. However, this is just sleeping on paper. The government should take immediate steps to strictly implement this.