Kolkata: CM Suvendu Adhikari reiterated on Friday that the Chorbagan stampede on Oct 17, which claimed 19 lives, resulted from a “human error” and said he would meet with 8,000 Durga Puja committees on Monday to prepare a safety roadmap for next year’s celebrations. He also asserted that those indicted by the team probing the stampede will not be spared.“The meeting, to be held at Milan Mela on Monday, will not be limited to exchange of Bijoya greetings. I will urge the puja committees to learn from the Chorbagan tragedy and lay special emphasis on the safety of pandal-hoppers right from the start. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) will also lay down recommendations on safety, which the puja committees have to implement,” Adhikari said.“The stampede was primarily due to human error. The rest will be probed by the retired judge tasked with the investigation. The report will be filed within three months,” he said.Also on Friday, state health minister Sharadwat Mukherjee said healthcare staff will not be allowed continuous leave during Durga Puja from next year. “The practice of taking leave from Sasthi to Lakshmi Puja (by healthcare staff) must stop. For long this was the practice. Since 1947, there used to be a festive, holiday-like atmosphere in hospitals from Sasthi to Lakshmi Puja,” he said.“Starting today, those who were on leave are being asked to report back to work,” the minister said.From next year, a four-day duty roster covering Saptami, Ashtami, Navami and Dashami will be prepared for the non-medical staff. For doctors and nurses, Mukherjee said, there will be no fixed roster as they must be present whenever their services are required.CM Adhikari on Friday visited the homes of two stampede victims — Shubham Sonkar and Mithu Mondal — in Maniktala and Shyampukur to offer condolences to the bereaved families and assure them of assistance.He pointed out that 66,000 Durga pujas were held across the state this year. “There was no untoward incident except what happened at Chorbagan during those two minutes,” he said.The state govt, he said, will make the SIT’s findings public and implement its recommendations. “Stringent action under law will be taken against whoever is found guilty during the probe,” he said.The CM added: “To ensure an impartial probe, we have excluded representatives from Kolkata Police and Kolkata Municipal Corporation (from the probe panel), as the incident occurred within their jurisdiction.”
