The Karur stampede exposes India’s chronic failure in crowd management and public safety. As the nation heads into a season of rallies and festivals, the tragedy must serve as a catalyst for systemic reform, accountability and preventive planning

We had not yet forgotten the calamitous stampedes in Bengaluru and during the Puri Jagannath Yatra in June 2025, when yet another human-induced disaster struck — this time in Karur, Tamil Nadu. On 27 September 2025, a massive stampede at the Lighthouse Roundana (Uzhavar Sandhai Grounds) claimed over 35 lives, including many women and children, and left scores injured. The incident unfolded as actor-politician Mr Vijay addressed a swelling crowd during his party’s outreach programme ahead of the 2026 Tamil Nadu Assembly elections. With official estimates of 10,000 attendees dwarfed by an actual turnout exceeding 50,000, the tragedy underscores a recurring failure in India’s crowd management and public safety systems. The Karur incident is heartbreaking but, tragically, not unique. India has long been haunted by stampedes — whether at religious festivals, concerts, political rallies, or aid distribution sites. Despite the country’s painful history of mass-casualty events, systemic lapses continue. In Karur, early reports suggest that crowd numbers far exceeded expectations, and once panic spread, chaos became uncontrollable. Children were separated from parents, people fell under the crush, and hospitals soon filled with grieving families.

Chief Minister M K Stalin rushed officials, ministers, and medical teams to manage rescue operations, with doctors from nearby Tiruchi and Salem mobilised to treat the injured. Yet even as emergency relief efforts were swift, the fundamental question lingers: why do such tragedies keep repeating?

Stampedes in India are not isolated incidents; they form a tragic pattern. The Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj in 1954 claimed over 300 lives due to uncontrolled surges. The Mandhardevi Temple tragedy in Satara in........

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