Destinations, disasters and public relations: Stakeholder engagement in multi-phase disaster management

The Kumartuli neighbourhood has been at the centre of the idol-making industry in Kolkata (India) for decades; however, it is situated within a larger network of allied practices that form part of the grand Durga Puja celebration. The meaning and significance of the idol is changing based on the technical know-how, changing consumer pattern and branding potential as a subsequent promotion due to the local government tourism policy. The annual Durga Puja celebration in Kolkata in recent years involves spectacular idols, pavilions and generates a havoc economic turnover with the promotion and patronage from the local government. This has resulted in a steady transformation in the everyday practices of the residents of this neighbourhood. This article investigates the changing social, cultural and the built landscape of the idol-making neighbourhood recorded through a visual ethnographic fieldwork studying everyday practices of the residents in their living and working spaces. The results indicate four different types of production units that have emerged from the growth of businesses in Kumartuli. These emergent typologies not only illustrate transformation of a homogenous residential neighbourhood to a commercial centre but also question the changing landscape of the neighbourhood.

Fuzzy Existences and In-betweenness: Place and Practices of the Idol-making Industry of Kolkata

As the number of festivals and the need to provide more satisfying customer experiences continue to grow, the challenges faced by festival managers have become more complicated than ever. This means that festival organisers are becoming progressively more reliant on their inter-organisational/delivery partners to sustain and improve their on-going operational activity. Supply Chain Management (SCM) provides a new dimension to a traditional perspective on the management of festivals, as collective co-operation can lead to the provision of superior value to customers. Through data collected from multiple semi-structured interviews with directors and employees at UK-based music events and festival suppliers, this chapter offers insights into how the effective and efficient management of SCM carries additional benefits to festival delivery. Firstly, it illustrates the complexity and multiplicity of supply chains in the festival industry and highlights the reliance on trust, customer visibility and communication within the overall supply chain. Secondly, the chapter applies two models from the mainstream SCM literature, namely the Bullwhip Effect and the Kraljic’s Purchasing Portfolio Model, to reveal the complex interactions between individual organisations in the supply chain.

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The effects of Supply Chain Management (SCM) activities and their impact upon festival management and the customer experience.

Human stampede (HS) is defined as complex crowd motion failure during a mass gathering (MG) event, which leads to loss of proxemics and the creation of clusters of high stagnation pressure causing axis displacement, and can be associated with serious injuries and/or death. Crowd dynamics and behavior using computerized mathematical formulae to understand motion dynamics in different MG event scenarios, including religious, recreational, and rush reaction scenarios, are critical in planning and evaluating the architectural design during the flow of MG events. Preventing multiple composite factors that may lead to HS events resulting in casualties is essential. HS victims’ clinical presentation is a mix of preexisting medical conditions, HS traumatic surgical emergencies, intoxication, and environmental-associated emergencies. Preincident actions are multidimensional responsibilities for both preplanned events (religious and recreational MG) and unplanned events (rush reaction MG), the focus should be on prevention, mitigation, and preparedness steps, which include engagement of leadership and officials, venue preparation, crowd density control, HS-specific public awareness, formulating a MG committee, conducting HS risk management, writing an HS incident–specific emergency response plan, establishing command and control centers, and constructing HS incident–specific training. Postincident action steps should focus on incident site access, as well as patient extrication, during the early stages. The safety of emergency responders must be considered. Traumatic asphyxia and crush syndrome are anticipated clinical entities that may be associated with high morbidity and mortality. Early and aggressive therapy, often initiated in the prehospital setting and even before extrication, may be required to ensure the best possible outcome. 

Human Stampede

This study explores how the key challenges associated with mega-events revolve around the management of risk, resources, operations planning and stakeholder engagement. Examined throughout this paper are the challenges and achievements of The Kolkata Police Force (KPF) in their role of ensuring safety for the public during the Durga Puja mega-festival. The paper evaluates the various strategies adopted by the KPF to overcome the multifarious challenges of organizing the mega-event. Also offered in this paper is a detailed discussion and suggestions for strategic improvements to multiple-stakeholder collaboration in managing mega-events that are at the scale and scope of the Durga Puja in Kolkata.

Sumita Ghosh

Papers

Lessons in risk management, resource allocation, operations planning, and stakeholder engagement: the case of the Kolkata Police Force and Durga Puja