WB stampede: Adhikari meets victim's family; 19 killed, 25 injured

Suvendu Adhikari met the family of a victim of the Hooghly stampede where 19 died and 25 were injured. He had earlier reviewed crowd management. The West Bengal govt announced Rs 25 lakh compensation, PM Modi announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh.

West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday met the family of a victim of the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal stampede in Arambagh, Hooghly, in which 19 people were killed.

25 others were injured in the tragedy in North Kolkata. The injured were admitted to Medical College and Hospital for treatment on Saturday.

Adhikari Reviews Crowd Management Measures

Earlier on Sunday, Adhikari visited the central monitoring facilities to review crowd management amid the festive season. According to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), he reviewed the functioning of the Traffic Control Room with a focus on traffic management, regulation of vehicular movement, and ensuring safe and seamless commuting for the people.

In an X post, Adhikari said, "The safety and well-being of every Citizen remain our utmost priority. To personally assess the ground situation and ensure foolproof crowd management across all major Puja Pandals, I visited the central monitoring facilities today"

He said that he reviewed state-level traffic management, surveillance infrastructure and tactical readiness alongside Senior Officers at the West Bengal Police Traffic Control Room at Araksha Bhawan, Salt Lake. At Lalbazar Police Control Room, he inspected live citywide CCTV feeds tracking footfall, transit corridors and crowd densities around major Puja Pandals.

"The Administration and Police Department are constantly reviewing the ground situation and making real-time modifications wherever required, along with enhanced Police deployment and round-the-clock ground vigilance, ensuring strict compliance with crowd safety regulations by all Puja organisers. I appeal to all Puja Committees and devotees to extend their full cooperation to the Police & Administrative personnel on the ground," he said.

Compensation Announced, Probe Begins

The West Bengal government has announced compensation of Rs 25 lakh and a job for the family of each victim. An investigation by the Special Task Force (STF) began to fix accountability for the incident.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to be given to the next of kin of each of those who lost their lives in the stampede. The injured individuals will also be given Rs 50,000.

(ANI)

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