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Organizing expos is one of the best ways of reaching out to masses. Which is why this is the most preferred technique adopted by the IT fraternity to attract customers. But, after witnessing the tragic incident that happened at the Meerut Brand India Expo, it's time for organizers to ensure that adequate safe measures are taken.

As the fascination for technology is gravitating customers like never before, the trend for IT exhibitions and seminars are swiftly donning the profile of a necessity. IT expositions are major crowd pullers and perhaps have become one of the mediums for channel partners to promote business. The IT industry and various channel association of different states, which organizes such expos every year, religiously and passionately indulge themselves to give dimensions to annual IT mela (Exposition), which gives them a reason to extend the scope of their business.

But amidst all the excitement, which these exhibitions carry with them, people who organize these shows often overlook the security and safety aspects of these events. Event organizers hardly place any emphasis on mandatory safety measures to preclude incidents like fire, short circuits and
stampede that results into a calamitous episode.

The tragic event at Meerut's Brand India expo has been the outcome of a lackadaisical arrangement at safety front, which resulted in massive loss of life and property. There were more than 2,000 people at Meerut's Victoria Park consumer electronics fair, which was being held in three long, air-conditioned tents with just one exit each. Approximately 500 people were trapped in the inferno and bodies charred beyond recognition lay scattered at the razed stalls. When a mere short circuit turned the fair site into ghastly inferno, loss of human lives could have been prevented, if the organizer would have paid attention to precautionary measures for fire security.

Shockingly, most of the IT associations committee members which DQ Channels spoke to were either unaware or turned blind eye towards fire safety measures one should abide by while arranging expositions in shed or pandals. The major reason for this ignorance could be attributed to the
shoestring budgets of these expositions that compel its participants and organizers to manage the entire affaire in meager amount.

 Rajiv Khanna, President, Jalandhar Computer Dealers Association corroborated, "The security aspect often takes a backseat during the arrangements of expos and seminars. But it would be a bias if we pass the buck only to the event-organizers; we participants are equally responsible for any loopholes that are left in foolproof security of the venue. In order to accommodate cost of other wares we overlook security
issue and move ahead with our participation."

It's true to certain extent that organizers are the ones who bear the brunt when something goes haywire, but it is also the responsibility of participants to raise their voice for issues that affects them directly. Shailesh Kumar Mandewala of Jamshedpurased-Galaxy Infosystem seconded, "While human beings don't have any control over natural calamities; the kind of devastating effect that happens out of blatant human negligence is something that could be averted entirely."

"But unfortunately not much attention is paid towards proper implementation of safety measures while organizing IT exhibitions, which, God forbid, might turn unpleasant for us participants. Hence, people who are taking part in any kind of exhibition or seminar should themselves see and take genuine interest in scrutinizing the arrangements done by the third party."

It's true that no one can guarantee 100 percent safety, but there are certain basic safety guidelines organizers can look at. Generally with the long stint in the field of events, organizers develop a tendency of overestimating their expertise, and while at it, they overlook the most crucial aspect of safety. P Krishnanmoorthy, Director of Mumbai-based event management company Consumer Links concurred, "When events of such a greater intensity are organized people usually ignore the security and safety issue which rather deserves first rank to avert any accident. More so it is also the responsibility of government officials who give out permits for arranging events to closely inspect and scrutinize whether the organizer is following the rules and regulations laid down by the government prior to awarding permission to them."

According to Krishnanmoorthy organizers should also distribute brochures to all the participants containing details of the people accountable for such events like names of government officials who have granted permission to the event organizer, name and contact details of the organizers, safety measures applied by the organizer and other such information that will enhance their accountability.

 People who hire outsiders for carrying out arrangements of their events often leave the entire accountability on the third party contactor, which at times costs them heavily. Milind Kumar, GM, Trade Fair and Conference International remarked, "It is not appropriate to blame the organizers for any safety flaw, however, a well known event organizer will never take any chance while arranging public events. I agree that some small time organizers and first timers leave everything on the contractors, which eventually turn into atrocious experiences." He further added, "While organizing events we always try to adhere to the basic rules laid down by the government like informing various government departments and acquiring permission from them, but the lacunae is often left by the contractors. Usually contractors go wrong in designing the architecture of the expo site and selecting the roofing material that invites unsolicited jeopardy to the exhibition at later stages."

 Generally it is the fear of shoplifting that looms large over exhibition participants mind more than any other safety threat. Zakir Hussain of Mumbai based Aladdin Multimedia expounded, "I believe the event organizers do not take care of our security. Though I am fortunate enough that incident of such severity, which occurred at Meerut, has not happened in any of the expos I have attended, but the thing which makes me worried while participating in the exhibitions is the safety of my belongings."

Madhya Pradesh Telecom and computer Traders Association (MPTCTA) Indore, the organizers of Fonocom, central India's biggest yearly IT exhibition has mastered the art of arranging expositions safely. The association has been organizing Fonocom since last one decade. Talking about some of the safety measures this Indore-based association unfailingly takes during Fonocom, Dharmendra Jain, President, MPTCTA said, "We try to take utmost care of security and safety. We typically deploy a dedicated team of more than dozen volunteers at four different locations who manages proper flow of crowd and oversees traffic movements. Also we make use of metal frame instead of wooden planks for erecting the roof and we never forget to install close circuit TV cameras at various locations for incessant coverage of the entire event."

 When Meerut's Victoria Park fire breakout it played havoc on the lives of hundreds of people visiting the expo and those who participated in it. As a lesson, various IT associations which were actively involved in organizing expositions have pulled up their socks and are getting in the mode for putting their best efforts towards safety of events they organize. The event-organizing wing of these associations is busy studying rules and regulations that should be taken into consideration prior to systematization of any exhibition in pandals.

ANJALI CHOUDHARY