Kolkata Durga Puja organisers and police introduced stricter crowd-control measures at pandals on Ashtami and Navami after a stampede at Chorebagan killed 19 visitors and injured several others. Visitors were asked to keep moving through pandals instead of stopping to photograph idols or themes, while some police teams warned that mobile phones could be seized if selfies caused crowd movement to slow.
At Maddox Square, a public announcement on Monday night told visitors not to spend too long taking pictures inside the pandal. The announcement warned that phones could be confiscated and collected later from the nearest police station after proof of ownership was shown. The instruction continued into the early hours of Tuesday as police worked to manage large crowds across the city.
Animesh Chattopadhyay of the Maddox Square Puja committee said police had asked organisers to make the announcements after inspecting the arrangements. The committee was among several organisers directed to reduce stoppages inside pandals, where visitors pausing for photographs could slow the movement of people through narrow or enclosed spaces.
Police also instructed Puja committees to ensure that pandal exits were wider and remained free of stalls so that visitors could be evacuated in an emergency. The directions followed the Chorebagan incident on Saturday evening, described in the report as unprecedented in Calcutta’s many years of festive celebrations.
Kolkata Municipal Corporation officials separately contacted organisers of several pujas held in city parks, including Maddox Square, to verify safety arrangements and the number of operational exit gates. A senior member of a north Calcutta Puja committee said the calls came around 1.30am on Monday. Organisers told the officials that exit information had already been included in the application submitted for permission to hold the puja, but the officials said they had been instructed to collect the details again.
The safety checks took place as visitor numbers remained high on Navami. In north Kolkata, Kumartuli Park, Kashi Bose Lane, Hatibagan Sarbojanin and Nalin Sarkar Street drew large crowds, according to police. Popular pujas around Gariahat, Rashbehari, Tollygunge and Behala in south Kolkata were also packed.
The crowding affected movement beyond the pandal premises. A senior police officer said traffic had to wait longer because pedestrians took more time to cross roads from one side to the other. The combination of dense footfall, road crossings, narrow access points and prolonged stops inside pandals required police and organisers to manage both pedestrian circulation and vehicular movement.
The latest measures place responsibility on puja committees, police and the civic administration to keep visitor routes moving and maintain usable exits during the remaining festival crowds. Organisers are expected to continue monitoring entry and exit arrangements while police manage queues and road movement around heavily visited pandals.
