A day after a stampede at a north Kolkata Durga Puja pandal killed 19 people and injured 25, a government-appointed panel began inspecting major crowd-puller marquees across the city on Sunday, October 18, to assess their safety arrangements.
The committee, announced by chief minister Suvendu Adhikari after Saturday evening's tragedy at Chorbagan, includes Disaster Management Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Director General of Fire Services Anuj Sharma.
The panel began its inspection at Santosh Mitra Square near Sealdah station, a major crowd-puller known for its elaborate themes. Members examined entry and exit gates, lighting arrangements and other safety measures before proceeding to other prominent puja pandals across the city, officials said.
The administration has stressed the need for wider exit routes, adequate lighting and the removal of bottlenecks created by temporary rope enclosures as part of efforts to improve crowd management.
Locals say downpour prompted visitors inside the marquee
Residents of the Chorbagan area on Sunday pointed to heavy rainfall, overcrowding, narrow access lanes and an alleged shortage of police personnel and volunteers as factors that may have contributed to the stampede that killed 19 people at the local Durga Puja pandal on Saturday.
Locals said the downpour prompted visitors inside the marquee to wait for the weather to improve, while those queued outside grew restless and attempted to enter an already crowded space.
Pramod Gupta, who lives near the pandal on Radha Madhav Lane, said the queue had stretched as far as Mahatma Gandhi Road, around 700 metres away.
“Everything was fine till the rain started,” he said.
Gupta said the situation changed suddenly after the rain began, with people trying to leave the pandal as more visitors pushed in from outside.
“Standing in front of my house, I could hear screams as people rushed out,” he said.
He added that he and his daughters helped four girls and sheltered them inside their home until the situation eased. Several people were lying on the lane outside the exit gate as others tried to assist them, he said, adding that ambulances later took the injured to hospital.
Another woman resident said the narrow lane had become even more constricted because of temporary shops, hampering rescue efforts.
“Ambulances could not reach the spot, and the injured had to be carried out to the main thoroughfare some distance away,” she said.
Another local resident alleged that too few police personnel and volunteers were present inside the pandal to manage the crowd effectively.
“We started the rescue work by breaking the bamboo structures and barricades of the pandal,” he said.