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. 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. “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.
However, the Mamata All India Trinamool Congress launched a sharp attack on the West Bengal Chief Minister and Kolkata Police over the stampede. 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.
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. In an X post, Adhikari said, “The safety and well-being of every Citizen remain our utmost priority. 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, according to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). To personally assess the ground situation and ensure foolproof crowd management across all major Puja Pandals, I visited the central monitoring facilities today.
