West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has said no one responsible for the Chorbagan stampede that killed 19 people will be shielded, and that the findings and safety recommendations of the inquiry panel will be made public.
Speaking at a Bijoya Sammilani attended by representatives of 6,000 Durga Puja committees at Milan Mela Prangan, Adhikari said the inquiry had been entrusted to a retired judge following advice from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. The government, he said, would compile the panel’s safety and security recommendations into a booklet for puja organisers.
“The govt will not shield anyone. The recommendations on safety and security will be compiled in the form of a booklet and given to puja organisers,” Adhikari said, according to the Times of India report. He described the incident as deeply distressing and said he would not characterise it as either a small incident or a conspiracy.
The announcement places festival crowd management and administrative responsibility at the centre of the state’s preparations for upcoming religious gatherings. Adhikari referred to the large crowds expected during Chhath and to the popularity of Kali Puja in Naihati and Barasat, Jagaddhatri Puja in Krishnanagar and Chandannagore, and Kartik Puja in Hooghly’s Bansberia.
He said the administration would work with organisers and other stakeholders to ensure that the remaining festivals were conducted without similar incidents. The chief minister is expected to meet Kali Puja organisers on Wednesday to discuss security parameters, the report said.
The state’s decision to distribute the inquiry’s safety recommendations to puja committees could create a common reference point for crowd-control planning across different festival sites. The source report, however, does not provide details of the panel’s findings, the specific safety failures identified at Chorbagan, or the measures that will be included in the proposed booklet.
The tragedy also triggered questions over the treatment of those injured in the stampede. Adhikari addressed the transfer of 25 injured people from government hospitals to private facilities, rejecting the suggestion that the move reflected an administrative failure. He said private hospitals provided better services and that the government had not retained patients in public hospitals out of institutional pride.
The chief minister also said this year’s Durga Puja celebrations had otherwise been conducted in a disciplined manner and that immersion processions in parts of Murshidabad, East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas, Malda, Diamond Harbour and North Dinajpur had proceeded peacefully. The next formal steps are the publication of the retired judge-led panel’s findings and recommendations, followed by the proposed meeting with Kali Puja organisers.
