Kolkata, Oct 18 A high-level committee to review safety arrangements at major Durga Puja marquees across West Bengal visited several community puja pandals in Kolkata on Sunday, an official said.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had announced the formation of the committee in the wake of the stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening, which killed 19 people and injured 25 others.
The panel includes Disaster Management Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh, Director General of Fire Services Anuj Sharma and DGP STF Jawed Shamim.
Commencing their visit from Santosh Mitra Square near Sealdah station, which attracts a huge number of revellers due to its innovative themes, the committee members scrutinised the entry and exit gates and lighting arrangements.
The panel members visited several crowd-puller Durga Puja pandals across Kolkata to oversee safety and security norms and crowd management plans, sources said.
Sharma later told reporters that the puja organisers were cooperating to ensure safety arrangements.
“Everyone wants the Durga Puja festival to be held in a proper manner,” he said, after the team visited the Tala Pratyay puja in north Kolkata.
Sharma said the committee has decided that food stalls will not be near the entry and exit gates of puja pandals.
Besides, there will be no separate VIP entry at any puja pandal, he said.
Sharma said this will ensure an additional exit route at pandals in case of a crowd swell.
The administration has also stressed the need for wider exit points, adequate lighting and the removal of bottlenecks caused by temporary rope enclosures.
(PTI News)
