New Delhi Railway Station Stampede: Central Govt to Build Holding Zones, Implement AI for Crowd Management

The central government plans to establish permanent holding zones at railway stations nationwide to manage the increasing passenger traffic. Additionally, Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be implemented for crowd and crisis management. This initiative follows the tragic stampede at New Delhi railway station, which resulted in 18 fatalities, triggered by an unexpected surge of passengers heading to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh.

Sources revealed that local officials will undergo training in situational awareness and crisis management. To aid passengers, directional arrows and separators will be installed to direct them towards the designated holding areas.

According to a report of India Today, the use of technology, including AI, will be used to monitor crowd movement, especially during train delays. As many as 35 stations connected to Prayagraj will be monitored by the central war room, they said.

As part of crowd control, cameras will monitor foot overbridges and staircase landing areas, with 200 CCTVs installed at New Delhi railway station. Sources added that 90% of Maha Kumbh devotees travel from a 300 km radius across four states, prompting targeted monitoring at busy stations.

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New Delhi Stampede:
The tragic stampede occurred around 10 pm on Saturday when a large number of passengers, disoriented by conflicting train announcements, surged towards platform 16 through a narrow stairway at New Delhi railway station.

As people tried to ascend and descend simultaneously, the crowd became trapped, creating a human bottleneck. Within moments, panic set in, and the situation escalated, leading to a devastating crush.