Gujarat: ‘Lynchings, selfie deaths man-made disasters’

GANDHINAGAR: The Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) has included the mob lynchings and the perils of clicking selfies in its school safety programme, which is being implemented at 55,000-odd schools in the state.
Terming mob lynching and selfie-related accidents “man-made disasters”, GSDMA issued safety guidelines warning that clicking selfies have led to several fatalities and how fake messages on social media have led to innocent people being lynched. GSDMA says the aim of including these topics in its programme is to make students aware of the dangers of mob lynching and clicking selfies dangerously.

Until now, GSDMA included natural disasters like floods, cyclones, fire and the like in its awareness programme, and this is the first time it has issued safety guidelines for lynchings and selfie-related incidents.
GSDMA CEO Anuradha Mall said there have more and more cases where youngsters have died because they were taking selfies in risky conditions.
She added that lynchings were also increasing, mainly because of fake messages spread on social media.
“GSDMA runs a school safety programme to increase safety awareness among students. We have included these two new topics in our programme, and issued guidelines on how students and their parents can avert these dangers,” she said.
The school safety programme has been designed to improve disaster safety measures and reduce risks through structural and non-structural measures.