Overview
- The Chorbagan stampede, which occurred Sunday, killed 19 people and spurred the State Home Department and Kolkata Police to issue a joint Standard Operating Procedure for pandals.
- The SOP requires separate, signposted entry and exit routes, orderly admission controls with entry stopped under excessive crowd pressure, and minimum lighting and backup power so pandals are not kept dark.
- Each puja committee must appoint an incident coordinator and deploy volunteers while Kolkata Police will use plainclothes officers, CCTV and aerial drones to monitor crowds and reduce panic.
- Fire and medical rules include mandatory fire extinguishers, first-aid at every pandal, ambulances at major sites and instructions for fire tenders to reach incidents within 15 minutes.
- District administrations such as Nadia have added local measures—capacity limits, regulated procession routes, fixed immersion timings, joint inspections and nodal officers—which could change traditional timings and require new committee coordination.