Effect of Social Groups on Crowd Movement in Mass Religious Gatherings: A Case Study of Kumbh Mela

In mass religious gatherings like Kumbh Mela, where participation of groups is much higher than individuals, studying the impact of groups on the macroscopic parameters is imperative. Although many researchers have studied group behaviour and its dynamics, the effect of the presence of groups in different group sizes on crowd movement is seldom studied. This paper tries to strengthen the existing literature by studying the impact of the presence of groups and group sizes on crowd movement in two major attractions of Kumbh Mela-2016. The average speed was found to decrease as the group size increased. Further, while comparing the groups’ speeds with isolated pedestrian speeds, it was inferred that the presence of groups slows overall crowd movement. This is done assuming a location as an isolated pedestrian section, based on a few criteria. This study will help bring out interesting insights on the effect of groups in the crowd and uncover their impact on the overall speed of the crowd. This study can also help the event planners and managers to take proper crowd management measures (such as appropriate barricading, streamlining the flow, etc.) whenever there is a reduction in speeds at the ghat or temple regions.