Kolkata: Brighter illumination inside the pandals, allow smaller batches of visitors to enter, make constant announcements urging visitors to desist from taking photos or doing reels, create additional emergency exits, deploy more volunteers at the entrance and exit, station a club functionary at the entrance, remove obstructions near exit gates.In the wake of the Chorbagan stampede that claimed 19 lives and injured 25 people, Durga Puja organisers across Kolkata scrambled to tighten safety arrangements, with several cancelling cultural programmes and doing away with VIP privileges.The tragedy at Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja in north Kolkata on Saturday evening has brought crowd management into sharp focus, prompting committees to review arrangements that had been designed for the festive rush. Chief minister Suvendu Adhikari had also appealed to puja organisers to increase illumination and take all necessary steps to make pandals safer.At Santosh Mitra Square, chief patron Sajal Ghosh said the committee had initially considered keeping the pandal closed on Sunday but decided that doing so could lead to greater chaos outside.“We actually wanted to close it. We wanted to keep it shut today. But given the current situation, we realised closing the pandal would create more chaos. So we have opted for staggered entry and increased the number of volunteers and fire tenders on the premises,” Ghosh said.At Tala Prottoy, which had shut its gates on Saturday reopened on Sunday after organisers increased illumination both inside and outside the pandal, deployed more volunteers and expanded the holding area and the space available for visitors to move around.The emphasis on regulating the number of people inside is particularly evident at Thakurpukur SB Park.“We were previously allowing around 200 to 250 people inside at a time. Now, we are allowing only about 100. We are making people queue much farther away and keeping an adequate supply of oxygen cylinders and water outside,” club secretary Sanjay Majumdar said.The committee has also strengthened its medical arrangements. Two nurses, male attendants and a junior doctor remain stationed at the venue every day from 5pm to 5am, he said.At College Square, the committee is removing four stalls that were obstructing the exit gate. The move follows growing concerns about how quickly a bottleneck at an exit can become dangerous when a large crowd attempts to move simultaneously.Behala Nutan Dal is increasing lighting at several spots, while Ultadanga Bidhan Sangha has installed 70 additional lights and deployed more private security personnel.At Purvachal Udayan Sangha, a shop close to the exit gate has been shut to clear the area. Sinthi Agragami Sangha has adopted a different approach to reduce congestion inside its pandal. Secretary Ratnadip Khasnobis said arrangements had been made for visitors to view the idol from outside.Purbachal Amra Sabai Club has discontinued VIP entry. The gate, earlier reserved for VIPs, now serves as an exit for the general public.At Purba Putiary Pragati Sangha, the number of security personnel has been increased from six to 10 from Sunday, while an additional emergency exit has been created.Park Street’s Allen Park puja has cancelled its major cultural performances, retaining only religious programmes. Puja secretary Navin Mishra said singer Shankar Mahadevan, who was scheduled to perform on Navami, and actor Govinda, who was expected on Monday, would no longer appear at the venue.“Except for religious programmes, we are not holding any cultural programmes. All have been cancelled. Only bhajan and kirtan will take place,” Mishra said.Forum for Durgotsav, a collective of around 500 major Durga Puja organizers in the city, convened an emergency meeting on Sunday and took several key decisions including deployment of more volunteers, posting additional manpower at the entrances to regulate the crowd and make repeated announcements on the public address system, urging people not to take selfies and videos.“We have also decided to station a Forum ambulance in each zone so that they can be immediately deployed in an emergency situation,” said Forum Sandipan Banerjee.The Forum has also decided to give 10 raincoats to each puja committee for use by volunteers so that they don’t abandon their post if there is rain.Forum founder Partha Ghosh said he had asked fellow members not to depend on police and hired security personnel for maintaining order in the pandal but use the experience and knowledge of the neighbourhood to find solutions to evolving situations.Despite the tragedy, large crowds continued to throng popular Durga Puja pandals across Kolkata on Sunday, with many revellers unwilling to let the disaster dampen the festive spirit. There were long queues outside Md Ali Park and College Square, both situated near Chorbagan and the morgue where bodies of the stampede victims were kept.However, the tragedy prompted some revellers to rethink their plans. Several said they had decided to avoid crowded pandals on Sunday after their parents and loved ones urged them to stay away from places witnessing heavy footfall.
