DTU fest 2024: Students jump walls, break barricades during Shreya Ghoshal's act
Delhi Technological University’s Engifest'24 saw a stampede-like situation when more than one lakh students turned up for the singer's performance recently.
Some staggered and faltered as they walked while others clutched onto their sprained or bruised body parts. Other, simply swayed to the mesmerising voice of Bollywood playback singer Shreya Ghoshal! This was the sight that opened Engifest ’24, the annual cultural fest of Delhi Technological University (DTU) that witnessed more than one lakh students throng to the college campus. In fact, the opening night itself saw a stamped-like situation with barricades being broken, walls being scaled, and even trees being climbed as students clamoured to catch a glimpse of the star performer!
Directive from HC
As per Delhi High Court’s directive, post the mishaps that occurred during last year’s fest season, colleges and universities are required to have an NOC from the police station, pre-registration for students who are to participate and attend, designating security guards and installation of CCTVs across campus, among other measures. As per our findings, all these were followed at the DTU fest.
A Century for Bouncers!
“There was a team of over 100 bouncers and special permission was obtained from the Shahbad Police Station,” informs Naman Goyal, a final-year student of DTU and treasurer of the cultural council. These bouncers were seen forcefully stopping students to push back the crowd. Kritarth Aryan, a first-year student of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha (GGSIP) University, who faced a blow from one of the bouncers, tells us, “I was in the VIP access area for which my friend, who is a DTU student, obtained special passes. It started getting immensely overcrowded because too many people were rushing in even without the passes. But the bouncers, instead of checking our passes, turned violent by shoving everyone away from the area. One of them hit me in my neck with his elbow! It got so bad that I left the ground and came back towards the end of the show, when the pain subsided. Some of my friends too got hurt in this scuffle.”
Sponsor passes to blame?
There was rush even in the exclusive area, which was reserved for only senior students and members of the cultural council. It was later found out to be due to the passes that were issued for a select few. “I saw students jumping over walls to get into the VIP enclosure, says Riya Barera, a second-year student of DTU, adding, “Some of the students were actually selling passes outside and then people started making copies of those. Some cards had ‘Sponsor’ printed on it. My friends and I, too, bought it for ₹200 each. These were relatively cheap, and it was good I got these than be among the crowd in the general area. But then, it just became too crowded here as well!”
Shreya Ghoshal: Please don’t push barricades!
Not only walls were scaled but even barricades were fell by some students, who started pushing the crowd from the back. A barricade that was separating the faculty lounge from the students’ area broke causing some attendees to fall. Ghoshal, upon receiving this information, paused her performance and said, “Mujhe khabar aa rahi hai ki yahan pushing ho rahi hai. Kahin kuch mistake ho jaye, kahin shaam kirkiri na ho jaye... Main thoda aage aa gayi hun par aap push mat karo, please don’t push any barricade. Toot gaya toh kya fayeda hoga? Abhi humne party songs bhi gaane hain!” No more barricades were broken after the announcement, however, some students did jump over the fences to get the front-row experience by entering into the area reserved for photographers.
Towards the end of the concert, the front-row area was filled with over 200 students, who danced and enjoyed the singer’s act. No serious injuries were reported, but many were left mulling over the question — Was it worth it to splurge their pocket money on passes? Despite the fest advisory from DU authorities, which have been updated thrice between November 2023 and January 2024, certain aspects still leave much to worry about the state of security at college fests.
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