The state-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) has found that the Chorbagan puja pandal had very low lighting and narrow entry and exit routes when it inspected the site following a stampede incident in Kolkata. The panel said the idol could be immersed, but the pandal must remain exactly as it was during the incident for further investigation.
The six-member SIT visited the pandal at around 6.50 pm on Thursday. The team inspected both the interior and exterior, examined the available entry and exit routes, and recorded video of the structure. Retired judge Anindita Ray Saraswati, who heads the panel, said the site had been preserved in its original condition.
“The lighting was very low,” Ray Saraswati said, according to the report. She also described the routes for entering and leaving the pandal as extremely narrow. The SIT is examining whether the movement of a large crowd through those spaces contributed to the incident.
The SIT chief said the incident did not take place inside the pandal itself but just outside the exit gate. This distinction will be relevant to the investigation into crowd movement, exit management and the arrangements made around the venue.
The panel will question everyone involved in the construction, decoration and management of the pandal, including the artist. It will also examine whether adequate closed-circuit television cameras had been installed at the venue. The role of Kolkata Police and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation is also expected to come under scrutiny as part of the investigation.
The investigation is also focusing on an announcement made over a loudspeaker during the disruption. According to allegations cited in the report, one or more people announced that the pandal was collapsing and urged visitors to leave quickly. Witnesses reportedly said the announcement caused panic and intensified the rush. One suspected announcer has already been detained in Nadia, while the SIT said the role of all those involved in the announcements would be examined.
The decision to preserve the pandal while allowing the idol’s immersion means investigators will be able to study the physical layout, lighting conditions and exit arrangements after the religious ceremony. Ray Saraswati said the immersion could proceed, but it would have to be carried out without altering the pandal’s existing form.
The inspection places the focus of the inquiry on basic crowd-safety conditions: visibility, the width and separation of access routes, monitoring systems, public announcements and coordination between organisers and authorities. The SIT’s next steps are to question the people connected with the pandal and examine the responsibilities of the police, civic authorities, organisers and other participants.
