West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari announced a raft of measures on Sunday to ensure safety of devotees at Durga Puja pandals across the state even as the Opposition targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government over the death of 19 people in the Saturday’s stampede at the Chor Bagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata.
Vowing action against all those responsible for the incidents, Adhikari announced that a special investigation team would soon be constituted to investigate the incident, adding that seven people have been arrested. “An SIT (Special Investigation Team) is also being formed, which will operate under the leadership of a sitting judge. The Chief Secretary will write to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. If permission is granted, we will constitute the SIT as soon as possible,” he said.
The chief minister also announced the setting up of a high-level panel to review safety arrangements at major Durga Puja pandals across the state.
The committee will review crowd management, exit routes and structural safety at prominent puja venues and recommend comprehensive guidelines to prevent a recurrence of such incidents.
The panel will be led by Principal Secretary of Disaster Management Rajesh Sinha, Director General of Fire Services Anuj Sharma and Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Javed Shamim, the chief minister said.
According to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Adhikari on Sunday reviewed the functioning of the Traffic Control Room with a focus on traffic management, regulation of vehicular movement, and ensuring safe and seamless commuting for the people.
In an X post, Adhikari said, “The safety and well-being of every Citizen remain our utmost priority. To personally assess the ground situation and ensure foolproof crowd management across all major Puja Pandals, I visited the central monitoring facilities today.”
A night after 19 people died and 25 were injured in the stampede at the Chor Bagan Durga Puja pandal following a crowd surge amid rain, Adhikari said a toned-down Bijoya Sammelani (traditional post-puja cultural reunion) will be held with the puja committees of Kolkata and its suburbs on October 26.
Adhikari added that the government may mandate scrapping the practice of Durga puja pandals having VIP gates and stressed the need for clear entry and exit provisions.
Puja organisers, especially the more popular and high-budget ones, often provide special access to ‘VIP pandal hoppers’ which largely remain clutter-free during peak footfall hours. Special passes are also sold at some pandals.
However, the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress launched a sharp attack on the West Bengal Chief Minister and Kolkata Police over the stampede.
The opposition party questioned the preparedness of the authorities and alleged that inadequate crowd management, a lack of police presence and the absence of adequate emergency arrangements contributed to the tragedy at the popular pandal.
“This accident is a complete failure of the administration, and the concerned Puja Committee must take responsibility for it. There are many influential individuals involved, but right now, we are at the hospital. Since yesterday evening, our priority has been relief work and medical treatment,” party MLA Kunal Ghosh.
MAITC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee wrote in a social media post that allegations have been raised about the chief minister’s nephew’s links with the puja committee. He also alleged that BJP’s north Calcutta unit president Tamoghna Ghosh was involved in the puja.
“When are you putting the guilty nephew in jail Suvendu Babu?” Banerjee wrote in the post.
The CPI(M) alleged that the puja committee had been forcibly taken over from its previous organisers by the ruling dispensation in mid-July. “The culprits who were busy in grabbing the Puja Committee under the ruling dispensation instead of adhering to well-established norms and traditions to fortify the safety and security of the visitors must be brought to book,” the party said in a statement.