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The Sarat Bose Road-Rashbehari Avenue crossing at 5.27pm on Sunday, swamped by thousands who had turned up to catch a glimpse of the giant idol. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta
…THE IDOL….jpg)
The 88-foot-tall idol, advertised as the “world’s biggest Durga”, at Deshapriya Park. The idol actually being worshipped during the Pujas is a smaller one installed at the foot of the giant Durga. Late on Sunday night, the police commissioner said: “I think that it is closed”
…AND WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CITY
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The car of police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha is parked outside the Esplanade Metro station on Sunday evening. The police chief, probably realising that he would not be able to reach Deshapriya Park through the clogged roads, took the subway, got off at Kalighat Metro and walked to the crisis spot
Calcutta, Oct. 18: Swamped by a “tidal wave” to catch a glimpse of the “biggest Durga in the world”, Calcutta police have virtually closed down the Deshapriya Park puja.
The towering structure drew tens of thousands of visitors on Panchami, triggering a near-stampede, paralysing traffic on vast stretches of south Calcutta and overwhelming the police, who usually put their best foot forward during the Puja season.
Several people were hurt, according to reports from hospitals till late tonight, but the nature of the injuries was said not to be life-threatening.
From 5pm to 8pm, no vehicles were allowed on the stretch between Rashbehari crossing and Gariahat.
At a news conference at 11pm, Calcutta police commissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha hinted that the puja would not be reopened this year, which would be an unprecedented step. He advised people to go to other pujas.
The 78-year-old puja has installed gigantic idols of Durga and her children – the one of the goddess is 88 feet tall, according to the police – in the park next to Priya Cinema.
An advertising campaign promoting the idol as the biggest in the world has been running in the city for months. But it is not clear why the civic authorities and the police could not foresee the turnout and put in place crowd-management measures or prevent the installation of the structure in advance if they had concluded it would be a hazard.
As usual, a political factor has crept in amid suggestions that the civic body did not take too close a look because of the backers of the puja. Local fingers point at (or salute) Trinamul councillor and mayoral council member Debashis Kumar. His brother Sudipto Kumar is the secretary of the Deshapriya Park Durgotsav organising committee.
When the puja organisers held a media conference in August to unveil the grand plans, Debashis was on the dais. In Trinamul ranks, he is said to be close to minister and Ekdalia Evergreen puja heavyweight Subrata Mukherjee.
Today, tens of thousands converged on the park from the morning. Many more stood outside, unwittingly disrupting traffic as they clicked pictures of the idols that tower above trees and advertising hoardings bordering the park.
At the crossing where Rashbehari Avenue meets Sarat Bose Road, the police struggled to keep pedestrians inside the rope-marked passage.
The impact was felt at Metro stations, too. Trains coming from opposite directions disgorged passengers simultaneously at Kalighat station, with many headed to Deshapriya Park. “We had to delay trains at various stations to prevent a stampede at Kalighat,” said a Metro official. In the evening, to dissuade passengers from getting off at Kalighat station, announcements were made at several stations that the Deshapriya Park puja had been closed.
Around 5.30pm, a near-stampede took place inside the park. Three women, members of the same family, had to be taken to the emergency observation ward of CMRI in Alipore. One suffered fractures in her right hand after several people fell on her.
Hironmoy Chatterjee, president, Deshapriya Park Durgotsav, said: “We did all that the police asked us to do…. There was no problem once the visitors got inside the park. It is just that the public have taken over the roads. People are coming like tidal waves. How can they be stopped?”
Outside, the signs of a lack of preparedness were visible. The edge of the pavements did not have barricades yet; while the police had removed hawkers from Gariahat on Friday afternoon, they did not do so from the pavements around Deshapriya Park.
By all accounts, the police appeared to have ignored tell-tale signs of the build-up.
Pandal-hopping used to begin from Sashthi, which falls tomorrow this year. But this time many pujas were inaugurated early because the organisers wanted VIPs like the chief minister and the governor to do the honours. Coupled with the weekend, the early openings ensured that the Puja season began yesterday itself while the police were preparing for a Monday kick-off.
At the news conference, the police commissioner said: “For the time being, the puja is closed.” He said the decision had been taken to ensure the safety of people.
Asked when the puja will again be opened to the public, Purkayastha said: “I think that it is closed.”
He added: “I appeal to the people… there are many other good pujas in Calcutta, visit those pujas.”
Another officer had said earlier in the day: “The puja committee has not been issued police permission yet.”
According to norms set by the high court, the height of a puja pandal cannot be more than 40 feet. Monday being the last working day before the police’s administrative holiday season officially kicks in, technically the police can deny the permission tomorrow.
However, experience should have alerted the police.
FD Block in Salt Lake had installed a huge idol in 2011, crafted by the same artist, Mintu Pal, who created the one at Deshapriya Park. The Salt Lake idol was planned at 104 feet but, denied permission, the height was cut to half.
The 52-feet fibreglass idol was one of the biggest crowdpullers that year. According to the organisers, almost 21 lakh people visited the pandal from Tritiya (two days before Panchami) to Dashami noon.