Chorebagan tragedy: Crowd control cops back at helm amid police failure allegations

The way to the entry gateof the Chorebaganpandal on Sunday. Picture by Sanat Kr Sinha

The Suvendu Adhikari government has brought back to Calcutta nine IPS officers who had been transferred to the districts and the police have begun belated inspections of Puja pandals, amid allegations of police failures in conection with the Chorebagan tragedy.

The Election Commission had reshuffled the police before the Assembly elections, shifting many relatively inexperienced officers to key positions in Calcutta, and the new BJP government had retained them.

The nine IPS officers now brought back to the city had been trasferred out of Calcutta by successive governments. They will help strengthen crowd management and law-and-order arrangements during Durga Puja.

Several other corrective measures, too, have been initiated, including a high-level inspection drive, fresh advisories to police personnel, and a review of traffic management.

Inspections of the major Puja pandals, which should have been completed well before the festivities began, are now being conducted by a team that includes the special task force director-general, Jawed Shamim, and the fire and emergency services director-general, Anuj Sharma. Both had served in the Kolkata Police for long tenures in several capacities.

On Sunday, the fire department issued showcause notices to three prominent Puja organisers over alleged deficiencies in fire safety arrangements, raising the question whether these deficiencies should not have been detected and rectified before the Puja crowds began arriving.

The organisers have been asked to explain the shortcomings identified during the inspections.

These deficiencies include inadequate lighting and ventilation, and the presence of temporary commercial structures close to the pandals. The use of LPG cylinders in shops near Puja-related structures made of highly inflammable materials has also emerged as a serious safety concern.

In separate notices dated October 18, the South Calcutta division of the West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services flagged shortcomings at the Ballygunge Cultural Association and the Chetla Agrani Club.

The department has flagged inadequate illumination inside the Ballygunge Cultural Association pandal and directed the organisers to improve lighting and prevent commercial activity at the entry and exit gates and in their immediate vicinity.

As for Chetla Agrani, the department has directed the organisers to provide adequate lighting and sufficient fans and air-conditioning to prevent suffocating conditions.

It has also objected to the temporary structures from where commercial activities are being conducted near the pandal, including shops allegedly using LPG cylinders. The organisers have been directed to remove unauthorised structures and report compliance to the local fire station.

Suvendu visited the traffic control rooms at Lalbazar, the Kolkata Police headquarters, and at Araksha Bhavan, the Bengal Police headquarters. He reviewed how traffic was being managed and crowd movement and congestion being monitored from the control rooms.

Police personnel have been issued with a series of advisories aimed at preventing a repeat of the circumstances that led to the Chorebagan tragedy.

The instructions stress proper crowd management and the need for officers to remain at their assigned posts even during rain, when large crowds can become difficult to regulate and movement around pandals can turn unpredictable.

Hirak Dalapati, an inspector posted in the detective department, was given additional charge as OC of Girish Park police station on Sunday. Dalapati had earlier, too, served as Girish Park OC for a considerable period.