Major Kolkata Durga Puja Pandals Shut Temporarily After Stampede Kills 19

Several major Durga Puja organisers across Kolkata were asked by the administration on Saturday late evening to temporarily close their pandals, hours after a stampede-like situation in another puja pandal killed 19 people and injured 25 others, an official said.

Crowd-pulling pujas like 'Tala Pratyay', 'Alipore Sarbojanin', 'Chetla Agrani', and 'Ballygunge Sarbojonin' were among the pujas asked to stop entry of enthusiasts, he said, adding that the show at Allen Park has also been cancelled.

Organisers of the Santosh Mitra Square Puja restricted entry of visitors to the pandal for the time being, puja committee president Sajal Ghosh said.

"We cannot ask every visitor to enter. And have scaled down the entry of visitors," he said

A senior Kolkata Police officer said, "Wherever we are getting the information regarding major rush, we have asked the puja organisers to stop allowing people there. This is a temporary decision, and we may take a call tomorrow."

Similarly, in Bidhannagar satellite township near here, major pujas like Salt Lake were also asked to shut down and stop allowing people to enter the pandals, a police officer said.

Several big-ticket pujas are also organised in Salt Lake.

"We have taken a call and asked puja organisers to stop allowing people inside the pandals," he said.

On Sunday, the state administration along with the Kolkata Police officers will hold a review meeting in this connection, a senior bureaucrat said.

Nearly 3,500 Durga Pujas are being held in the city.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)