Bihar native among 19 killed in Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede, confirms West Bengal CM
As part of the relief measures, the West Bengal government has announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh and a government job for the family of each deceased person
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced compensation of Rs 25 lakh and government jobs for the families of the 19 victims who died in the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede in Kolkata. The tragedy, which occurred due to a massive crowd surge amid rainfall and poor management, has prompted the formation of a Special Investigation Team headed by a sitting high court judge to probe the incident.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced compensation of Rs 25 lakh and government jobs for the families of the 19 victims who died in the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede in Kolkata. The tragedy, which occurred due to a massive crowd surge amid rainfall and poor management, has prompted the formation of a Special Investigation Team headed by a sitting high court judge to probe the incident.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced compensation of Rs 25 lakh and government jobs for the families of the 19 victims who died in the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede in Kolkata. The tragedy, which occurred due to a massive crowd surge amid rainfall and poor management, has prompted the formation of a Special Investigation Team headed by a sitting high court judge to probe the incident.
West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Sunday said that one of the 19 people who died in the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede hailed from Bihar. The CM said he will personally visit the families of the deceased on October 20 and October 21 to offer condolences and hand over compensation cheques of Rs 25 lakh.
Apart from 18 West Bengal natives, a person hailing from Bihar’s Muzaffarpur also lost his life in the tragedy. CM Adhikari confirmed that the bodies of the deceased would be handed over to family members after the autopsy procedure.
"We have assigned magistrate and DSP-ranked officers to hand over the bodies to the respective families. The officers will remain with the families till the cremations are over," the CM was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Adhikari had earlier promised strict action against those found responsible for failing to discharge their duties, allegedly leading to mismanagement of the crowd.
The stampede occurred at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata on Saturday evening, the day of Maha Saptami, following a surge in the crowd amid rainfall.
The Chief Minister has also announced that a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a sitting judge of the Calcutta High Court, will investigate the incident. The team will include members of the Special Task Force (STF), the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), and other departments.
As part of the relief measures, the state government has announced an ex gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh and a government job for the family of each deceased person. Those injured will receive compensation of Rs 5 lakh each.
Locals alleged that there were very few police personnel and volunteers inside the pandal, thus making crowd management difficult. The narrow lane at ground zero, which became narrower with the setting up of temporary shops, caused impediments to the swift rescue of the injured, they pointed out.