Kolkata, Oct 19 (IANS) The autopsy reports of the 19 people killed in a stampede at the community Durga Puja pandal of Chorbagan Sarbojanin in Kolkata on the night of October 17 suggest multiple reasons behind the deaths.
Sources aware of the development said that the autopsy reports suggest that the prime reason behind the deaths was extreme suffocation after being trapped under several people rushing to come out of the Puja pandal.
Apart from that, multiple internal injuries caused by the rushing crowd also led to the deaths of some of them. In the case of six deceased pilgrims, as their autopsy reports suggest, the impact was such that their rib bones were crushed and had punctured their lungs.
Meanwhile, taking a lesson from Saturday’s stampede tragedy, medical teams, including doctors from various medical colleges and hospitals in Kolkata, have been deputed since Sunday evening at the community Durga Puja pandals where footfall traditionally remains high on evenings of the Durga Puja days.
Doctors have been given duty at the puja mandap from 5 p.m. to 6 a.m. the next day. This duty will continue till the time idols in the respective pandals are immersed.
However, a section of medical practitioners has questioned the justification of deputing medical teams at the Puja pandals. “God forbid, if any Chorbagan-like situation recurs once again, what would the medical teams deployed at the Puja pandals do? Rather, the administration, especially the police administration, should concentrate on efficient crowd control on the remaining Puja days so that situations leading to similar mishaps do not recur,” said a city-based medical practitioner who refused to be named.
Already, the administration had barred the system of VIP passes issued by the big-budget community Pujas in the city. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has directed the city police administration to ensure that under no circumstances, vehicles of any VIP are allowed to reach the pandal gates.
Meanwhile, after this incident, the Chief Minister decided to cut short the scheduled Vijaya Sammilani programme on October 26. He said that the programme will be completely devoid of pomp and grandeur. According to him, the representatives from all the community Durga Puja committees are being called on that day. There, along with paying homage to the dead, financial assistance will be given to those injured in the stampede.
The Chief Minister will visit families of those killed in the Durga Puja pandal stampede to hand over compensation cheques on October 20 and 21. So far, seven persons, including two top office-bearers of the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee, have been arrested in connection with the tragedy.
–IANS
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