Mock security drill on Kumbh routes from December

NASHIK: The Nashik police department will carry out mock drills from December in the city following a survey and identification of pilgrim routes for next year's Kumbh Mela.
Nashik police commissioner Kulwantkumar Sarangal said the issue of natural and man-made disasters could not be ruled out during such events. "We are considering every single possibility in disaster management wherever people will be present in large numbers.The mock drills will strengthen our course of action and, at the same time, we will improvise upon these," Sarangal said.
The drills will be first carried out at every location and then together to ensure that the police force is ready to mitigate any challenge at any point of time.
A senior police official said the drills would involve actions to be taken in cases of stampedes occurring in narrow areas, on the ghats during both day and night, terror attack threats and situations when there could be danger of people drowning in the river.
The drills will also take into consideration the limitations of people, deployment of logistics, availability of resources and strengthening them with the help of the local and district administration as and wherever required, the police said.
The drills will expose, if any, shortcomings in the preparations by any department to ensure that the Kumbh Mela is conducted in safe and secure manner.
The police have also finalised the exit routes that will be maintained clear all through the time of the mass gathering.
The drills will allow the police to calculate the time required to approach a situation site, chalk out emergency routes that will be manned at all times, with no citizens being allowed in. The focus will be on Sardar Chowk, the Shahi Snan Marg and Ram Kund.
The placement of logistics, ambulances and the bomb detection and disposal squad (BDDS) will also be earmarked to ensure that help is not more than five minutes away at any given time from any point of disaster.
Twenty-nine pilgrims were killed in a stampede at the Sardar Chowk (located on the Shahi Marg that leads from Tapovan to the Godavari river) during the last Kumbh Mela hosted by Nashik in 2003.