Unmanageable crowd forces PU to cancel singer’s live show

Failing to manage the crowd, the Panjab University authorities cancelled the live concert of Punjabi singer Arjan Dhillon, who was scheduled to perform at the fest “Jhankar”.

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An unexpectedly high number of people made their way to the campus, despite the authorities having restricted entry from 1.30 pm. The chaos was not only limited to the varsity but also the nearby areas as they witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic. “The show was called off as the venue was overcrowded. The unmanageable crowd broke the barricades even before the singer entered the campus. Fearing any untoward incident, the event was called off,” said one of the university officials.

Notably, sources claimed that the authorities did not take a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Chandigarh Police or the UT Administration for organising such a large scale event.

The police was only informed about the event and presence of the singer during the fest. “The police suggested the authorities not to conduct the event here considering less space. However, situation turned out of control event before the start the show. While the university authorities had checked Identity Cards to allow entry inside the campus, those scaling the walls or coming by foot cannot be stopped. The university had hosted many events in the past, but today’s rush was unexpected,” said another official.

Meanwhile, the university today decided to conduct such events at Sector 25 (South) Campus instead of hosting large scale events, specially hosting singers, at Sector 14 campus. “The entry of outsiders can be regulated at Sector 25 campus considering less number of entry gates and high boundary walls. The space is adequate to host large events,” added an official privy to the matter.