I am absolutely furious.

17 people dead. 35+ injured. In a split second, a festival of joy turned into an absolute nightmare at Sarada Park (Chor Bagan), and for what?

A sudden spell of rain?

Rain during Durga Puja is not new to Kolkata. What is new, or rather, a recurring curse, is the pathetic lack of basic safety infrastructure.

How does a major pandal pulling thousands of people every single hour not have proper, wide exit routes?

Why was the lighting so terrible that people couldn't even see where they were running?

Where the hell were the volunteers and crowd management teams when things started going south?

Every single year, clubs compete for the biggest budgets, the most lavish themes, and the highest footfall. They brag about lakhs of visitors, but when it comes to basic human safety, they pinch pennies.

The organizers, the civic authorities, and the planners who approved this setup have blood on their hands.

We talk so proudly about our culture and hospitality, yet we fail at the absolute bare minimum: keeping our citizens alive.

My heart goes out to the families who lost their loved ones tonight over incompetence.

We need accountability, safety mandates, and criminal charges for organizers who treat human lives like cattle.

Stay safe out there, Kolkata, because no one else is looking out for us.

Don't make them get away from this disaster. Hope ABP doesn't delete the facts.

Source in case it gets deleted - https://www.anandabazar.com/west-bengal/kolkata/stampede-like-situation-reportedly-in-kolkata-chorbagan-pujo-dgtl/cid/1720441

https://x.com/chhuti_is/status/2111514621236633850

Other pandals are closing too btw. It can’t get worse than this.

By god’s grace I was just 1-2 min away from entering the Pandel when the chaos happened

It started because of a fight apparently (ppl were backing off , when we asked them why they said ppl were fighting badly inside)

Because of the fights inside , a lot of ppl were hurrying which caused the stampede.

It was raining heavily ,Now the Pandel is extremely small and the path towards the Pandel was also very small compared to the crowd. Even in that path ppl were going towards the Pandel and coming back , there was an alternative path to the Pandel which was a literal road but idk why it blocked and barricaded (even if it’s literally raining heavily , how can ppl walk in that conjugated lane)

Now when the situation became serious I saw a lot of ppl carrying children and calling out their parent’s names, thank god to those ppl for showing kindness and acting fast to keep the children’s away from that place as soon as possible.

A lot of ppl kept shouting that why isn’t the police inside , they literally went inside later and were unable to reach the fight site as ofc there is already a crowd blocking them. Why wasn’t any police inside for safety but just outside the Pandel?

now ,A kid was crying outside the Pandel saying her brother was inside. Me and my friends were looking for a police nearby, we said him that she is alone and is lost please guide us what to do. He said “ekhon ki korbo” arre atleast keep her in ur police booth nearby or say any nearby shop vendor to do that ,

He just said “Pandel er pashe thakuk” wtf , later on some other ppl said that their friend was also stuck inside the Pandel and hence they are waiting so to let the kid stay with her and that we should get away from the region as it’s not safe so ya we went away from place asap

I hate the person who said “Ami ki korbo” , just do ur fucking job

কে দায়ী হবে এই ঘটনার জন্যে ??
The visuals are harrowing

একটা ৭ বছরের বাচ্চাও মারা গেছে

This is a viral video thats doing the rounds, from a person that was there during the Chorbagan stampede

Some clarification: I skipped voting last time because frankly I didn't want another easy TMC win.

But what happened today I am regretting my decision. 20 deaths from a stampede at a Pujo organised by a BJP man with the CMs 'bhaipo' as a committee member.

There are flyers of BJPs win which are still lying around near the Howrah bridge, and power has already got to their heads. Utter carelessness.

I even saw a video of amit shah walking around somewhere with dhaki and sanai in the background after the incident.

Dehatis outside colleges with bhagwa flags. The kind of vulgar statement the CM makes about other people. Platforming that anti-Bangali bigot bagheshwar baba.

Is this what we have to endure till the next elections?

BJP already has a somewhat moderate candidate, Agnimitra Paul, who was about to become CM. Even tho we all saw the bridge incident.

Kicking away Suvendu Adhikari should be a no brainer.

The situation was so severe that the Pandel was on verge of collapse as announced in the speaker

I was already out of the Pandel region so idk what happened later , but it was literally uncontrollable.

Ppl kept coming near the Pandel even after several announcements that ppl should be away from Pandel region

Idk y tf there is no news abt it as of now

Source - https://x.com/ANI/status/2111521111066423746

We were one of those unlucky ones who happen to stay close to a mega puja (this is Tridhara from our window). Our life has come to a complete standstill. We cannot have medicines or essentials delivered, nor can we go out to buy things without getting stopped at every road corner. The police are completely untrained and don’t pay heed to residents pass. And then people blowing the annoying vuvuzela’s. So as you have fun, have a little empathy, spare a thought to all the octogenarians and nonagenarians who are now the principal inhabitants of this part of Kolkata.

Several dead Reported*

Source : https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/india/story/stampede-like-situation-at-kolkatas-chorbagan-puja-pandal-after-section-collapses-several-injured-3019834-2026-10-17

Ekhoni shunlam Chore Bagan e crowd er moddhe 17 jon mara geche. Eta honestly khub e heartbreaking. 😔

Last year o amra erokom onek news shunechilam. Amar satheo personally onekbar crowd er moddhe kharap incident hoyeche. Tarpor thekei ami Kolkata te rate thakur dekhte jawa bondho kore diyechi. Ekhon diner belay family-r sathe jai.

Just imagine, jara mara geche tara konodin imagine-o koreni je tader sathe erokom kichu hote pare. Tarao hoyto Pujo enjoy korte, thakur dekhte beriyechilo, Pujo niye onek excited chilo. Kintu ekta muhurter moddhe nijer jibon tai hariye fello. Eta bhablei khub kharap lage.

Ar ami honestly bujhi na, jara rate thakur dekhte jay tara oi 2-3 ghonta line e dariye, bhirer moddhe dhakka kheye, gorome eto koshto kore ki moja pay.

Ekhon mone hoy most of the public thakur er protimar theke beshi boro pandal ar lighting dekhtei interested. Personally, amar ei huge pandal gulor theke rastar dhare choto choto pandal ar protima dekhtei beshi bhalo lage

1) Permission to create a pandal at THAT scale should always be given as per entry exit points...

Personally, Chorebagan ei stampede er news tae ami surprised na. Ami kalke 7pm er dike oi left side we at max 8-9 feet er soru goli tae chilam....aktu chaap porlei stampede hoejeto kalkei...

2) If you are tall and above 6 feet-> TAKE SOME FCKING RESPONSIBILITY...

kalke amar maa baba oh amar sathe chilo...pechone ato dhakka dichhilo some people like were moving forward while putting pressure behind and leaning backwards to negate the force...but while doing so my hand hit a freaking 6fee 4in + father and he got frustruated?? Idiot you are big enough to push back 3 avg. men and women in a crowd, but these folks have 0 control themselves, and they are even more dangerous...

3) Volunteers and management need better tactics for crowd control....

NEVER let the crowd stand and let it build up -> always keep people moving slowly steadily.

These idiots will drop the sharp ropes straight down without any care for who is moving where...SIMPLE thing you need to do....put a rope halfway across the street and ask people to duck beneath it and move....thus crossing the rope will take more time and it will happen smoothly

4) ITS HIGH TIME WE EITHER STOP VIP PASSES or give MORE SPACE to ORDINARY

These managements will allocate more space for VIPs and a tiny space for no pass holders...no shit stampede will happen...

It's truly baffling to read posts urging people to not 'politicise' these deaths. The death of 17 people is a reflection of the lacuna of the ruling dispensation. The police and the administration are not bodies independent of the political atmosphere. They are reflections of the political scenario & their behaviour is linked to the ushering in of the new government. If there is a failure, blame squarely falls on the administration. Today, when Chorebagan & pujos were understaffed, a huge RAF force was deployed to destroy book stalls. A large section of the security, was diverted for the visit of the HM. Thus, the mismanagement and the stampede were a consequence of the police deployment. Subsequently, the response was pathetic as good samaritans came together to transport taxis for the injured and unconscious (or worse). The same pattern played out in Delhi, where the first response was non-existent. Private ambulances from Blinkit stepped in to fill the gap.

For this adminstration, the consolidation of their rule remains the primary aim and the death of 17 or so innocent lives is an acceptable casualty for them. Kolkata has seen crowds bigger than this, cloud bursts more severe than this drizzle.

Recognise these people who wail against politicisation of these deaths as collaborators and supporters of this administration that took away these people from their families. When a young man saw life squeezed out of his mother, when happiness were washed away wasn't your religiosity hurt?

The value of a life, has been reduced to a number & a figure (some lakhs the 'honourable' PM has decided to donate to these aggrieved families). But will money bring back the dead?

Today, people who are 'first in their bloodline' to see Durga puja and defend this will continue to do so for the most heinous crimes, till it happens to them. I'm ashamed, angry & saddened at what has happened today, because in my life of 20 odd years this festival has been never marked by blood. This is only the first year of a long and arduous five years ahead.

I've been reading a truckload of low-effort nonsense like:

"I'm not taking sides but the management could've been better"

"I'm not taking sides but a stampede is unprecedented in Kolkata during Durga Puja"

"I'm not taking sides but bringing bulldozers to tear down bookstalls is not good"

"I'm not taking sides but Devipaksha starting with a rapist's bail is not good"

"I'm not taking sides but..." STFU. You've already taken a side. It's time to switch sides now. Why do people associate with an ideology that they have to constantly hide under the garb of neutrality?

And unprecedented disasters leading to loss of human life primarily because of mismanagement demands that you start taking a God damn side before it's someone you love being sent to a hospital in an Uber cause the police were busy tearing down book stalls and couldn't care less about dead people.

Amidst the heartbreaking news of the Chorebagan Sorbojonin stampede, ami jani everyone is very disheartened. My heart reaches out to everyone suffering. I just don’t know but maybe this post can bring in some peace and hope for now.
Meet the 12 y/o sculptor Anirban Saha, my friend’s cousin from Jiaganj, Murshidabad. He handcrafted this stunning 1-foot er ek-chala Maa Durga idol in under a month. I feel such pure talent deserves all our respect. I hope his art brings a little smile on your faces. Subho Sharodiya! 🤍

To read about it in detail, check this out: https://talesofmou.substack.com/p/the-twelve-year-old-sculptor?r=7cti07&utm_medium=ios

It is BJP's fault on what happened today and any one who wanna talk about 2015 i wanna know why didn't you speak then and we can all just keep dwelling on past whenever something happens in present but doing that will never solve anything ever