Kolkata: The festive mood that had swept north Kolkata through Saptami evening gave way to shock, fear and an eerie silence after a stampede-like situation at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal during rain claimed 17 lives. As news of the tragedy spread, the city’s biggest crowd-pullers fell silent, their lights and music giving way to emergency announcements, ambulance sirens and the frantic search for missing family members.Following administrative instructions, major pujas across the area began shutting down from 8 pm, bringing pandal-hopping to an abrupt halt. College Square, Md Ali Park and other prominent pujas in the neighbourhood closed their gates as the entire stretch was gradually evacuated. Other pandals like Tala Prottoy too shut their puja gates.Streets that had been packed with revellers only hours earlier were emptied, with people being asked to move out while police and emergency personnel worked to manage the situation.The contrast was stark. The strains of shehnai and festive music that had filled the air through the afternoon and evening were replaced by the incessant wail of ambulance sirens. Ambulances rushed through the area as relatives and anxious family members made their way towards hospitals from different directions, hoping to locate loved ones or get updates on those injured in the incident.The festive announcements and music fell silent as the evacuation gathered pace as the area was filled with sound of ambulance sirens.The tragedy also changed the mood of pandal-hoppers elsewhere in the city. With news of the deaths spreading rapidly, many chose to abandon plans to visit the major crowd-pullers and either headed home or confined their outings to smaller neighbourhood pujas. For several families, the prospect of navigating packed streets and queues suddenly appeared far less appealing.“We had planned to visit several big pujas in north Kolkata, but after hearing about the Chorbagan tragedy, we lost all enthusiasm. When people are losing their lives in a place meant for celebration, there is no point in continuing to hop pandals,” said Rishswav Mondal, a reveller from Behala.Pratyasha Sen, another reveller and schoolteacher from Jadavpur who was out for pandal-hopping with a group of friends said: “We were enjoying the festive atmosphere. Even during the rain we had entered a restaurant and finished an early dinner near Sovabazar. But Suddenly, the crowds and the rush everywhere began to feel frightening. So, we dropped our plans and headed home,”Sagnik Basu, another puja reveller from Garia said they also dropped their plans midway and took a Metro and headed back to their para. “Durga Puja comes every year, but a life lost can never be brought back. After hearing that so many people had died at Chorbagan, we simply could not carry on celebrating. We decided to return home rather than visit any more pandals,” he said.
