The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will provide Mumbai Ganeshotsav safety training to at least eight to 10 volunteers from every public Ganeshotsav mandal ahead of this year’s festival, covering crowd management, fire safety, electrical accidents, first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and emergency response.
The one-day first-responder emergency management programme will be organised across all 26 of the civic body’s administrative wards. The BMC’s disaster management department will coordinate with public Ganeshotsav mandals through the respective ward offices to arrange the training.
According to the civic administration, the sessions will focus on precautions that mandals should take to prevent emergencies and the procedures volunteers should follow if an incident occurs. Volunteers will receive guidance on managing crowds visiting pandals, responding to fires and electrical accidents, handling health emergencies, distributing prasad safely and carrying out initial emergency action.
The training will also include practical demonstrations in first aid and CPR. Officials from the BMC disaster management department, Mumbai Fire Brigade, electricity supply and transport departments, the National Disaster Response Force and the police will guide participants during the programme.
Mumbai’s public Ganeshotsav attracts large numbers of devotees and tourists from across Maharashtra and other parts of India. Crowds gather at mandals and around pandals to view festival displays, creating a need for coordination between organisers, civic agencies and emergency services. The BMC said the volunteer training is intended to increase citizen participation in emergency management during the festival.
The civic body has also begun planning and implementation measures to make this year’s Ganeshotsav more environmentally sustainable. It said that, while providing various civic services and facilities, the administration was adopting environmentally friendly measures wherever possible.
The programme forms part of the BMC’s annual preparations for the festival, with the administration urging public Ganeshotsav mandals in Mumbai to participate. Ward offices will coordinate with the mandals on the training arrangements and related preparedness measures.
