00:00Indurjeet, if you could quickly give us the main pointers of what he said, especially concerning the Puja committees, it
00:07seems he is warning them or rather suggesting to them that they should be careful and work with the administration
00:13and police.
00:16Well, Anjali, this is very, very big. Home Minister Amit Shah is in town. He just reached this evening around
00:23the time when this news unfolded of this massive tragedy during Kolkata Durga Puja celebration.
00:30So, Chief Minister Subindu Adhikari has just announced that the government is not taking part in any of the celebrations.
00:36So, no Durga Puja celebrations as far as the government is concerned.
00:39The government ministers won't take part in the celebrations. All the events that were scheduled for tomorrow for the Home
00:45Minister was scheduled to go and visit multiple Durga Puja Pandals tomorrow.
00:51That stands cancelled right now. There are 25 people who are injured. The government says, the Chief Minister says that
00:56their treatment and recovery is a priority.
00:59The government, he says, will stand by the family members of those who have died in the unfortunate tragedy that
01:05unfolded behind me at this Durga Puja Pandal.
01:08He has also sounded an alarm, a caution for all the Durga Puja Pandals, not just in Kolkata, but across
01:16the state.
01:17There are thousands of Durga Puja registered and they have to register. Thousands of registered Durga Puja, which are organized.
01:25They are called Sharbojanin Durga Puja, public Durga Puja, where thousands and lakhs of devotees visit these Pandals.
01:30So, what the Chief Minister essentially has said, that all these Puja committees, and it's an alarm bell tonight for
01:37all these thousands of Durga Puja committees in Kolkata, across the districts,
01:41to revisit and review their security apparatus at the Puja Pandal immediately.
01:49And they have been asked to check, you know, and fill the gaps, if any, in the security apparatus, in
01:56the exit, in the entrance of all the Durga Pujas.
01:59And there are, mind you, huge, big Durga Pujas across Kolkata and, of course, in the districts as well.
02:05So, in a sense, this will be a security audit. So, all these Durga Puja committees, they will have to
02:12work with the Calcutta police here in Kolkata, in the district, with the district police,
02:16to make the arrangement, the security arrangement, full-proof, because we have still, we have four to five more days
02:25to go.
02:26So, things will have to be full-proof, because Durga Puja celebrations won't stop.
02:31Surely, it's going to be more somber. Surely, it's going to be, there would be a tone, a very sad
02:38tone to this year's Durga Puja, given the incident that has happened.
02:41But celebrations won't stop. The Puja will go on.
02:44So, there will be, you know, thousands of Durga Puja Pandals, where the Puja will take place, and devotees will
02:49come and offer their Puja.
02:52So, in a sense, this is a huge challenge for the new government, for the Shubhendu Adhikari government,
02:57because it is a massive tragedy that has befallen on the government right now.
03:02They will have to ensure that there is no repetition of what has happened, and they will have to fix
03:08things very, very quickly.
03:10So, the task is cut out before the administration, both the Kolkata police, as well as the West Bengal police.
03:16Back to you, Anjinder.
03:17Right, Induzit, if we look at it practically, it is probably some of the biggest Puja Pandals,
03:24or the Puja committees that will have to actually do that reality check for themselves.
03:29Because, although, as you said, there are thousands of Puja Pandals that are put up,
03:34but there are some where the public pressure or the crowd pressure generates.
03:38So, maybe it is those that really need to audit themselves, or the state also needs to pinpoint those.
03:46Just asking you, if you could tell us, which are those Puja committees,
03:51and how many possibly would be there in Kolkata?
03:56Well, there are multiple.
03:58There are multiple.
03:59In Kolkata, I can't give you an immediate number, but it should be somewhere close to 100.
04:08There are big Puja Pandals, Puja committees, you know, even near Chorhbagan.
04:12The biggest Puja around Chorhbagan is the College Square Durga Puja,
04:17which is right opposite the Calcutta University.
04:19On the left, once you travel on Central Avenue after Chorhbagan,
04:23is the Muhammad Ali Park Durga Puja, which is also very big.
04:27Not very far away from Chorhbagan.
04:30The biggest Puja in the last two years, which has seen the biggest of crowds,
04:34is the Libutala Park or the Shantosh Pitcher Square Durga Puja,
04:38which is also drawing massive crowds.
04:41And the visuals have gone viral over the last two days.
04:43So, they will also have to pull up their socks and do a security audit.
04:47Once again, Anjali, can I show you?
04:49This is a thing, as I said, which leads us to the Chorhbagan Durga Puja.
04:54On both sides, as I said, there are bamboo barricading that has been done.
04:59And this is not just within this lane that leads to the Durga Puja.
05:03Bamboo barricading is done on the main roads of Kolkata for crowd control.
05:08Because on the main road, the traffic movement is kept smooth.
05:12And people are asked to move out, you know, from the other side of the bamboo barricading.
05:18And you have the wires like these, ropes like these, very thick ropes that are used by volunteers.
05:27As you can see, the one that is lying here,
05:30these are the kind of ropes that are used by volunteers to stop the crowd.
05:36So, say, suppose the crowd comes till this place.
05:39If the crowd is still here, they will be stopped here.
05:42And they will be stopped till the end.
05:44And slowly, there would be another rope and a few more volunteers behind.
05:49And the crowd would be allowed in phases.
05:52So, about 100 people would be allowed to enter.
05:54And then, again, this rope will be pulled in to stop the crowd.
05:59So, this is the technique that is used by volunteers,
06:03along with the Kolkata police, across all Durga Puja pandals here in Kolkata.
06:07This is the standard operating procedure.
06:09And that's how they allow the crowd to enter.
06:13So, what happened today, we don't know.
06:16It is subject to investigation.
06:17What led to the rush, we don't know.
06:20But when I spoke to some of the locals here,
06:22one thing was clear.
06:23They were telling us that it was raining.
06:26And because it was raining, as I said, it still went.
06:29Because it was raining, there was a rush to, you know,
06:33save oneself from the rain, from getting wet.
06:35And also to enter the Pandal,
06:37which in a case is located in a very, very, very narrow by lane
06:42in central Kolkata, which is also a very congested area.
06:45So, what happened due to all these things together
06:50is the unfortunate tragedy that has unfolded for our eyes in Kolkata.
06:54Right.
06:54Indraji, we are quickly bringing that audio statement
06:58of the Chief Minister, Suvindu Adhikari, once again.
07:01And if possible, please do translate it live as we play that.
07:05Our forensic and fire brigade teams are at the place of occurrence.
07:19Through such time, the forensic teams gather evidence.
07:23No one should tamper the place of occurrence
07:29so that no evidence is tampered with.
07:33Please cooperate with the investigation.
07:38Allow us to provide the best of treatment to the 25 people.
07:45Their recovery is our priority.
07:49All the families who have lost their loved ones,
07:52we would like to reach out to all of them.
07:54Our heart goes out to all of them.
08:25Thank you very much.
08:25Thank you very much.
09:04Our primary job is to stand by the families of those who have lost their loved ones.
09:12Right, you were listening to the audio statement of the Chief Minister of Bengal.
09:19And Suvindu Adhikari has clearly stated that there will be an audit now
09:24as far as these Pooja Pandals are concerned.
09:27Thank you very much, Indra, for joining in and giving us all that information
09:31and showing us the exact place where it all happened.
09:3517 people have lost their lives in Kolkata in a horrible tragedy.
