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Organisers’ negligence proves costly at Scouts-Guides Jamborette

Nearly 200 students suffered injuries when a portion of a makeshift audience gallery crashed on them during the inauguration of the 26th Scouts-Guides Jamborette of Karnataka at Taraluv village near Kaggadasapura here on Thursday afternoon.

Some teachers were also injured in the incident. All the injured are said to be out of danger. A majority of them were discharged after being administered first-aid, and a few have been hospitalised.

Bangalore City District Administration, Bharath Scouts and Guides Department, Department of Public Instruction and Bharath Scouts and Guides, Bangalore South District had jointly organised the event. The organisers had erected a temporary platform with galleries on both sides near the Central Reserve Police Force grounds at Taraluv.

The temporary galleries had seats arranged for the audience. The height of the galleries was nearly six feet and around 8,000 students from different parts of the State were attending the event.

The gallery on the left side suddenly crashed when the Scouts and Guides Chief Commissioner Kondajji B Shanmukhappa was delivering a speech. Hundreds of students fell over each other, and many of them sustained injuries on their hands and legs, while some received head injuries.

The gallery apparently crashed due to heavy load and improper settings. Most of the injured are from Bangalore, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Bellary and Bidar, as the seating arrangements were made in an alphabetical order.

A Scouts officer told Deccan Herald: "The organisers’ gross negligence caused the accident as they had not taken proper care while erecting the stage. Money was not a problem for them as nearly Rs 1.5 crore was used for the event. They did not provide proper facilities despite availability of funds."

Another officer pointed out that poles were simply tethered to the ground using some screws, instead of digging pits and installing them.

The organisers had also not made proper arrangements for medical facilities. There were hardly 20 nursing students who had a tough time treating the injured. The ambulance reached the spot 45 minutes after the accident.

The mishap seemed to have least affected Shanmukhappa as he continued his speech even as students were falling over one another. He termed the incident minor and requested the gathering not to make an issue out of it.