Several major Kolkata Durga Puja pandals were shut or restricted on Saptami evening after the Chorbagan tragedy, while organisers at Chetla Agrani evacuated visitors when a surge in crowds raised concerns about safety.
Chetla Agrani stopped entry and cleared people from inside the pandal after a short but sharp spell of rain led to a large crowd buildup. Sabyasachi Chowdhury, associated with the puja committee, said volunteers became concerned about the situation and that police assessed the crowd before ordering an evacuation.
“We closed the entry gates, opened the exits and removed the barricades so that people could disperse quickly,” Chowdhury said. He added that the situation did not reach the point of becoming a stampede. The pandal had also been closed last year after a spark caused by a short circuit was detected and immediately extinguished.
The response followed the Chorbagan incident in north Kolkata, where lives were lost. Md Ali Park and College Square closed their pujas in response to the tragedy, while Tala Prattoy, another major crowd-puller, stopped entry to its pandal.
Ritesh Tiwari, the primary organiser of Tala Prattoy, said the committee acted on the advice of the chief minister. He said the theme-based pandal used dim lighting and that the organisers would reassess illumination and entry and exit points before deciding to reopen.
“Only after a detailed crowd-management assessment with police and other competent authorities will we reopen our pandal for revellers,” Tiwari said.
At Allen Park, which is hosting Durga Puja for the first time, organisers stopped the music and laser-light show. Navin Mishra, the general secretary of the puja committee, said the decision was taken after the deaths at the Chorbagan puja and that celebrations had been toned down.
Other high-footfall pujas, including Santosh Mitra Square and Suruchi Sangha, continued monitoring visitor movement and crowd conditions. Santosh Mitra Square widened its entry and exit points and began allowing fewer people inside. Sajal Ghosh of the puja committee said organisers were in discussions with the government and would close the pandal systematically if required.
“Nothing can be more valuable than human life. We will make no compromises there,” Ghosh said.
At Suruchi Sangha in Chetla, the number of volunteers was increased and visitors were asked to keep moving rather than gather near the idol. Sourav Sikdar of the committee said the pandal’s open layout meant it did not need to shut at that stage.
The sequence of closures and crowd-control measures placed entry and exit design, lighting, volunteer deployment and police assessment at the centre of Kolkata’s festival safety response. The affected committees are expected to reassess their arrangements with police and other competent authorities before deciding whether and how to resume unrestricted entry.
