KOCHI: Residents, visitors and stakeholders will be heaving a sigh a relief that 2025 was seen off — rather scintillatingly — with an incident-free Cochin Carnival. A major highlight was the seamless crowd management, which was made possible by the joint efforts of all government departments and the carnival organising committee.
Expressing happiness over the successful culmination of the carnival, Joseph Varghese, a member of the organising committee, told TNIE, “This was the result of countless meetings and discussions held by the district administration with various stakeholders. We wanted to correct the mistakes of the previous years.” He pointed out that work on the carnival began in September.
“Every department was given a specific task. The police department was very proactive. The police gave us instructions on the arrangements that need to be made to make the event an incident-free one. To enable the smooth dispersal of the visitors from the carnival grounds,” he added. The district administration had given the carnival committee permission to hold a music programme, complete with a DJ, after the burning of the Pappanji, so as to hold back the crowd from making a dash to leave the grounds enmasse.
Highlighting how the carnival was different from past years, Sivadathan M P, director of Kerala Homestay and Tourism Society (K-HATS), said, “It was heartening to see crowds moving in a disciplined manner. The perfect queues at boat jetties were a sight to behold. The police department handled the crowd very well.”
According to Haneesh K H, a carnival volunteer and Fort Kochi resident, the area witnessed massive traffic and crowds on Christmas night. “The situation was similar the following day, which raised serious concerns for the year-end festivities.
This prompted authorities to impose stringent restrictions and law-and-order measures. In hindsight, those steps clearly worked. Around 2 to 2.5 lakh people visited Fort Kochi on New Year’s Eve,” said Haneesh. As to the faultless policing witnessed at the carnival grounds, Putta Vimaladitya, former city commissioner who has been promoted as inspector general of police for internal security, said, “The absence of complaints was the result of seamless coordination among all departments and officials.
The police were fully geared up nearly ten days in advance. Along with enforcement, our focus remained on public safety, women’s security, and ensuring smooth transportation,” he said. He also lauded the role of the media and the public for responsibly sharing information and adhering to safety regulations.
According to an ASI rank officer with Kochi City police, things got easier after the higher-ups told them to focus on easing traffic flow, prioritise public safety, and facilitate a hassle-free carnival experience for people. “In the past, we were deployed to conduct intensive vehicle checks and frequent drunk-driving inspections, with constant directions over the wireless. This left us with no time to focus on crowd management,” he added.
Another factor that played a role in controlling the crowd surge was the decentralisation of festivities. Besides Veli and Parade Ground in Fort Kochi, the celebrations were spread across multiple venues, including Puthuvype Beach, Kakkanad NGO Quarters, Kalamassery HMT Colony, Palluruthy, Chathiyath, and Marine Drive.