The Great Counting Contest

The government, reeling from the public outcry after the Mansa Devi incident, held a press conference.

Santa and Banta watched as a senior, well-dressed official stood at a podium, flanked by charts and logos. He spoke with an air of confident authority about the “robust and foolproof” measures for the Char Dham Yatra.

“We have implemented a state-of-the-art pilgrim registration system,” the official announced, pointing to a graph showing a rising blue line.

“As of this morning, we know that 1.2 million pilgrims have registered.”

“We have deployed 500 doctors and 1,200 sanitation workers.”

“We have a police deployment of over 2,000 personnel.”

“The numbers are being monitored on an hourly basis from our command center.”

Santa, who loved clear numbers and decisive action, felt a wave of relief. He turned to Banta, his face beaming.

“Now this is what I call a proper response!”

“Look at those numbers, Banta!”

“They are counting every single person, every single doctor.”

“And even sanitation workers!”

“They have all the data on their computers.”

“This must mean everything is safe and under control now.”

Banta watched the official on TV with a weary, cynical expression. He picked up an empty matchbox from the table, then a full one.

“Ah, the great counting contest,” he said with a sigh.

“We are world champions at it.”

“We count people, we count mules, we count toilets, and after a tragedy, we count the dead with great accuracy.”

“But Santa, all this counting misses the entire point.”

He opened the full matchbox.

“Imagine this box holds one thousand pilgrims who have registered for Kedarnath today.”

“The government is very proud of knowing the exact number: one thousand.”

He then tilted the box and poured all the matchsticks at once into the narrow groove of the window frame. They jammed instantly, spilling over, a chaotic mess.

“This,” he said, pointing to the jumble of matchsticks, “is what is happening.”

“The government is pouring all the ‘counted’ people into a narrow, inadequate system all at once.”

“A good shepherd,” Banta continued, looking Santa in the eye, “doesn’t just boast about how many sheep he has.”

“He knows how to guide them through a narrow gate a few at a time, patiently and safely.”

“We are counting the people without managing their movement.”

“Our entire focus is on static numbers, on logistics, while completely ignoring the science of dynamic flow.”

“It’s a grand exercise in perfecting the data collection for a tragedy we are refusing to prevent.”

संता – बंता की इस जुगलबन्दी से आज हमने क्या सीखा:-  

• समझ / Discover: वर्तमान में हमारे द्वारा की जाने वाली यात्रा की तैयारियां मुख्यतः यात्रियों के पंजीकरण व यात्रियों की सुविधा से जुड़ी विभिन्न व्यवस्थाओ के लिये तैनात किये जाने वाले अधिकारियो व कार्मिको की संख्या तक ही सीमित हो कर रह जाती है / Current preparations often focus heavily on logistical metrics like registration numbers, and deployment counts of staff and facilities.
• विज्ञान / Science: भीड़ में व्यक्तियों की सुरक्षा संख्या से कहीं ज्यादा भीड़ के बहाव, घनत्व तथा गति के प्रबन्धन पर निर्भर करती हैं। भीड़ के बहाव व घनत्व की जानकारी के आभाव में मात्र व्यक्तियों की संख्या का ज्ञान सच में किसी काम का नहीं है / Crowd safety is not about static numbers but about managing dynamic flow, density, and speed. Knowing how many people are in a system is useless without the ability to control how they move through it.
• चिंतन / Reflect: यात्रियों की संख्या का निर्धारण तथा उन्हें दी जाने सुविधाओं से जुड़ी विभिन्न व्यवस्थाओ करने का अति उत्साह, हमें (भगदड़ के लिये उत्तरदायी) भीड़ प्रबन्धन तथा भीड़ की मनोदशा व व्यवहार तथा गति विज्ञान से जुड़े मूलभूत पक्षों की अनदेखी के बावजूद सुरक्षा का छद्म आभास करा सकता है / An over-emphasis on counting and logistics can create a false sense of security while ignoring the fundamental principles of crowd dynamics, which is the actual cause of stampedes.
• उत्तरदायित्व / Responsibility: सच कहें तो प्राधिकारियों को मात्र यात्रियों की संख्या का निर्धारण करने से कहीं ज्यादा अपना ध्यान सक्रिय रूप से सतत निगरानी, गति व घनत्व नियंत्रण तथा आवश्यकताओं के प्रबन्धन के आधार पर भीड़ की गति के प्रबन्धन पर केन्द्रित करना चाहिये / Authorities must shift their primary focus from merely counting people to actively managing their movement through systems like real-time monitoring, flow control, and demand management.

 संता – बंता की यह जुगलबन्दी आपको कैसी लगी, कृपया हमें जरुर बताये 

व 

इस जुगलबन्दी को बेहतर बनाने के लिये अपने सुझाव अवश्य दें।

हमें हमेशा की तरह आपके सुझावों, प्रतिक्रियाओं व कटाक्षो का बेसब्री से इंतजार रहता हैं और सच मानिये इसी के आधार पर हम अपने आप में, अपनी सोच व रचनात्मकता में सुधार करने को प्रेरित होते हैं। 

सो अच्छा – बुरा जैसा आपको महसूस हुवा हो, कमेंट जरुर करते रहें।