Allocating 18 Local Staff and 40 Reinforcements for a Temple Festival
The Kottur police station has 24 sanctioned personnel: 4 on leave, 2 at training, and 18 available. It must run a 24-hour station with a minimum of 4 staff per 8-hour shift, send two two-person patrols per shift, and provide bandobast for a temple festival expected to draw 20,000 people. The festival site has one 3-metre-wide exit, a narrow bridge on the only ambulance route, and no separate parking. The district sends 40 additional police, 2 ambulances, and 1 drone for 12 hours. The inspector asks you to prepare a deployment plan without closing the station, keep the bridge clear, and decide whether to cap crowd entry. You have 18 local staff plus 40 reinforcements; each shift is 8 hours; the festival peaks between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
1. Prepare a minimum deployment table for station duty, patrols, and festival bandobast during the peak. Show the arithmetic.
Read the worked answer
Available local staff = 18. Station minimum = 4 per 8-hour shift x 3 shifts = 12 person-shifts. Two patrols of two per shift = 4 per shift x 3 = 12 person-shifts. Total local requirement = 24 person-shifts, so 18 local staff cannot cover both station and patrols for 24 hours. Use the 40 reinforcements for the 12-hour festival window, not for routine station duty. Peak 6-9 p.m. deployment: 12 reinforcements at the 3 m exit (4 outside, 4 inside, 4 holding), 8 at the bridge, 6 at parking, 4 with ambulances, 6 reserve, 4 with drone and loudspeaker. Local staff: 4 on station, 4 on two patrols, 2 mobile. This keeps the station open and the bridge clear. Stagger relief so no one works more than 8 hours.
2. Should crowd entry be capped? Give a threshold and a trigger for stopping entry.
Read the worked answer
Cap entry. A single 3 m exit for 20,000 people is the controlling risk; the bridge is the only ambulance route. I would cap the standing crowd at 12,000 and phase entry in batches of 2,000. Triggers: queue beyond 500 at the entry, any stoppage on the bridge, exit density where people cannot move at walking pace, or an ambulance delay over 3 minutes. On any trigger, stop entry, open a second temporary exit if possible, and make announcements. The drone can monitor the bridge and exit. A cap is justified because the exit and ambulance route cannot be expanded within 12 hours, and the cost of a crush is far higher than the cost of turning away late arrivals.
3. Draft a 30-second Tamil loudspeaker announcement telling people which exit to use and what to avoid. Explain the language choices.
Read the worked answer
Use short, polite imperative sentences and name the exit. Model: 'தயவுசெய்து கிழக்கு வாசல் வழியாக மட்டும் வெளியேறுங்கள். பாலத்தில் நிற்க வேண்டாம். குழந்தைகளை கையைப் பிடித்து அழைத்துச் செல்லுங்கள். அவசர வாகனங்களுக்கு வழி விடுங்கள்.' Reason: loudspeaker speech must be understood in one hearing; 'east exit only' removes choice; the bridge warning protects the ambulance route; the child instruction reduces separation; the emergency-vehicle line creates cooperation. Avoid legal terms and long sentences. Repeat the announcement every few minutes and use a local speaker whose pronunciation the crowd recognizes.