Kolkata is hurting – The Times of India
It’s a dreaded first no city wants – Kolkata witnessed its first Durga Pujo stampede: one pandal claimed at least 19 lives, a crush was averted at a second, four other big Pujo pandals were pre-emptively closed to public, and many others muted illuminations and toned down festivities, in deference to the tragedy. Some organisers in the affected North Kolkata pujo have been arrested, probes initiated, compensations, and jobs announced.But none of it may ever completely answer shattered relatives’ queries on poor crowd management, the chaos post the event, and the reportedly insufficient police presence for crowd control. Repeatedly, across every such tragedy, the one issue that glaringly rises above all, and remains unaddressed, is that the world’s most populous country has not prioritised plans to avert stampedes, in any comprehensive manner.Crowd surges are bound to happen – if it was a sharp spell of rain this year, it was a short circuit last year when a stampede was averted; often exits are blocked, there are botched up announcements, the trigger-list does not bear repeating, they are so oft repeated. Question is, first, who monitors daily whether festival organisers are sticking to the script?Do they have ample support? Second, who is first responder? Third, why are there reports that govt hospital being ill-equipped led to confusion over whether injured should be taken to private ones? Who’s in charge in the immediate aftermath? A stunned suffering crowd left to its own devices is the worst remedy for any tragedy.There are lessons to be learnt. That police and security were not present in sufficient numbers is one claim by locals. All committees will check force rationalisation. The other charge is the narrowing of exits. The pandal design itself may have been a factor – who grants permission when average footfall in a Kolkata pujo pandal can be as much as 4L-5L daily? The risks of narrow entrance-exits are well-established.Add to that complications when outer spaces are restrained with rope barriers. A dampener for all, but for one part of Kolkata, Durga Pujo is all but over – police imposed prohibitory orders, reportedly fearing protest crowds. Kolkata is hurting. It needs a healing touch.
Disclaimer: Views expressed above are the author’s own.
