00:00Some news updates coming in. It seems Mamata Banerjee has issued a statement on this
00:04Pandal tragedy. She has said that she's deeply shocked and saddened to learn about the stampede
00:10at the Chor Bagan Pooja Pandal. She says, and I quote her, I pray to Madurga for the speedy
00:16recovery of all those injured and for strength and courage for their families during this
00:22difficult time. So clearly, this is a shocking news coming in from Calcutta. And with the first
00:28day of the Poojo, it will be a very saddening news as well. Joining us right now is India
00:33Today's Anupam Mishra. Anupam, what are the latest updates you have with you right now?
00:38Well, you know, Lok Dhawan West Bengal has also posted it on social media and said that
00:45deeply saddened by the loss of precious life in the stampede at a Duru Gha Pooja Pandal
00:49in Kultanta. This is the post by Governor Ravi. And he says that my heartfelt condolences
00:57to be bereaved families in this hour of grief, praying for the Swiss recovery of the injured.
01:02So it has, it just happened maybe one hour back in the very popular Chor Bagan Sargajanin.
01:11And for the past three, four years, this Pooja has become extremely popular. And several
01:21people are coming into this Pooja Pandal. And a huge crowd was seen for the past three,
01:28four days in this Pooja Pandal. And right now, what we are getting from the sources that,
01:35especially the IBT has found that the Pooja Pandal, a huge crowd was gathered inside the
01:43Pooja Pandal. And suddenly, it has started raining. And frantically, three people tried
01:49to enter into the Pooja Pandal to save themselves from the rain. And this happened at that time
01:56that a portion of the Pandal has also collapsed and camping happened. Around 35 to 40 people
02:03are injured, several dead. So far, the number of the dead people are yet to be confirmed by
02:13the authorities. Authorities are saying that several people are dead and several people are
02:18injured. So this is the basic situation at present. The authorities have evacuated the area.
02:26The Pooja Pandal has been closed for the devotees. And the main attention is in the hospital
02:34at present. Basically, medical college and hospital there, maximum number of injured are admitted.
02:41CM Shubindu Adhikari has also visited that hospital. And the higher authorities are also there.
02:52Right. Absolutely. Anubam, as you mentioned, the governor's office has issued a statement.
02:56And I quoted, deeply saddened by the loss of precious lives in the stampede at Durga Pooja Pandal
03:03in Kolkata. My heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families in this hour of grief,
03:09praying for the swift recovery of the injured.
03:12Now, Anubam, coming back to you, you know, the Pooja happens every year. We see the people
03:20visiting these pandals every year. And there are huge crowds outside the gates of these pandals.
03:26So this is an annual occurrence. And we rarely hear of stampedes coming from Calcutta or any other big
03:34cities like that. While stampedes in Indian, many Indian religious places, we have seen reports of
03:41that happening. But something which is an annual feature, we rarely see that coming from Calcutta.
03:46What do you suppose is the reason that usually that it is very rare this happens? And what could
03:52have gone wrong? I know this is speculation. But what could have possibly gone wrong that
03:57something like this happened?
03:59Well, you know, it is still under investigation. What exactly went wrong? Because Kolkata police and
04:06volunteers, thousands of volunteers, thousands of Kolkata police personnel were deployed for this
04:12special occasion every year. And this time also thousands of police personnel, thousands of civic
04:17volunteers have also been deployed in overall the popular Pooja Pandals. And it seldom happens that
04:26this kind of situation we have seen. I remember once Desho Pleno Park has a stampede-like situation
04:32because of the crowd. Thousands of people started visiting that Pooja Pandal a few years back.
04:41Then police, even police commissioners had to go from the metro to reach the destination because
04:47by road it was impossible to reach that destination. So many people were there in the road.
04:53So this time exactly what happened, where the administration or where the volunteers have failed,
05:00it is under investigation exactly what happened. But this is certainly a lapse of organization.
05:07And the organizers knew that people are coming in huge numbers in this Chorhbagan Sarvajanin
05:14for the past few years and this year also for the past few days. Especially from Sritia or Chorhbagan,
05:22people have started visiting this Pandal in a huge number. So they should have at least
05:28be cautious and should have prepared for any kind of such incident. But this clearly says that
05:39something went wrong. That is why it has happened.
05:42Right.
