Kolkata, Nov 4 Irregularities were found in the construction of a pandal and a stage for a Kali Puja in central Kolkata during an inspection by senior police and fire services officials and Fire Services Minister Koushik Choudhury on Wednesday.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand, Director General of Fire and Emergency Services Anuj Sharma, and the minister visited the Janbazar Kali Puja pandal to check for irregularities in its construction and safety arrangements.
The inspection came amid heightened scrutiny of festival pandals following the Chorbagan Durga Puja stampede, which claimed 19 lives, last month and subsequent directions to ensure compliance with safety norms.
“We have found the pandal’s height on the S N Banerjee Road side too high, exceeding standard safety regulations. We also found discrepancies in the stage located near the pandal on a road, which could disrupt traffic flow,” Choudhury told reporters.
Sharma said the department asked the puja organisers to take necessary corrective steps.
Responding to the observations, Puja committee official Sandipan Saha, an MLA from the TMC’s Ritabrata Banerjee camp, said the puja in Janbazar had been held in the same manner for years, and no irregularities had been found in the past.
“The stage for cultural programmes has traditionally been set up on the side of the road without disrupting traffic flow. The entire programme will last for two hours. Anyway, we will abide by the government directives,” he said.
The team also inspected the fireworks market in the Maidan area.
(PTI News)
