Leading, controlling violent situations, managing huge crowds comes to Dr. Ravinder Kumar Singal with total ease. His innate love for serving, being amidst the masses, streamlining them, pushing his limits, communicating with them, and working to maintain law and order is the subject of his Ph.D. in Crowd Management.
His high level of intellectualism, command over the public, managerial skills, communication skills, and leadership skills became evident when he handled millions of people during the Guru Ta Gaddi, 300th Year Celebration at Nanded (2008) and the two Kumbh Melas at Trimbakeshwar-Nasik (2003 & 2015).
He prepared and planned for the mega event of Guru Ta Gaddi for a year and successfully managed over two million pilgrims gathered from all across the world in six days. Most notable was the visit of the Honorable President of India (2008) and the Honorable Prime Minister of India (2008) during peak periods. Besides, there were a large number of other VIPs and dignitaries who had attended this function.
Read MoreBarely five years into the police service and Dr. Singal got the opportunity to manage the Kumbh Mela in 2003. Besides managing crowds of more than 1.5 million pilgrims a day from different parts of India, he had to diplomatically manage conflicts, uncalled-for situations, massive traffic, and people’s demands, including the bathing schedules and managing the ten ‘naga sadhu akhara’ (group) processions.
Read MoreFor his flawless execution of the 2003 event, he was rewarded with the D.G.INSIGNIA (State Honor), an Out-Of-Turn Award by the then DGP of Maharashtra state, usually reserved for officers with around 15 years of experience.
In 2015, during the Kumbh Mela of Nasik, Dr. Singal was posted in Mumbai but was present at Nasik with his wife for his weekend leave to capture photographs of the festival. However, due to a crisis arising at the Mela, the DGP held an urgent meeting at Nashik where Dr. Singal was also called. They asked him to remain in Nasik for the smooth conduct of Kumbh Mela. Dr. Singal joined the local police, incorporated changes in the strategy, managed the crisis with quick decisions, got the local people involved, and resolved small conflicts, thereby becoming the crisis handler and risk-taker.
Dr. Ravinder’s natural curiosity and love for intellectual pursuits combined with his enthusiasm to learn directed him into a world of research. This finally, led him to successfully earn a Ph.D. in Crowd Management (Managing Safety, Order, and Tranquillity in Mega Events: An Expository Study of Tercentenary Celebrations of Guru Ta Gaddi at Nanded).
To delve deeper into the best practices for Kumbh Mela, the Haridwar Roorkee Development Authority and Elets Techno Media invited Dr. Ravinder Singal as a guest speaker and panelist to the Innovation Summit at Haridwar in July 2018 to share his insights on effective crowd management and policing.
Read MoreAfter the Elphinstone Road stampede which happened in the monsoon, a conference on stampede prevention was organized by the Western Railways. Dr. Singal was invited by the divisional railway manager, western railways to deliver a speech on the best practices for stampede prevention and crowd management.
Click here to read some of the principles that will help to control crowds and prevent stampedes.