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Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha on Sunday questioned whether standard operating procedures (SOPs) for crowd management were followed during the stampede at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata, which claimed 19 lives and left at least 25 injured.
Questioning the response to the tragedy, Jha, while speaking to ANI, said, There are SOPs for crowd management. Were they followed? Will classifying this as an accident and announcing compensation bring back the loved ones lost by those families? He further criticised the approach of treating deaths as statistics, expressing disappointment with the system of governance. The problem is that, in our system of governance, such figures and deaths become nothing more than statistics... Frankly, we no longer have any expectations from governments... he said. Meanwhile, West Bengal Cabinet Minister Umesh Rai said that the state government had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the stampede, describing the incident as a case of mismanagement. The state government has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 25 lakh and a government job for the next of kin of each deceased person, along with financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh for each injured person. Following the incident, Kolkata Police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, in sensitive parts of the city from October 18 to October 20 to maintain law and order and prevent untoward incidents. According to an order issued by Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nand, the restrictions cover areas under Bowbazar Police Station bounded by College Street, Central Avenue (CR Avenue), Colootola Street and Eden Hospital Road. The order prohibits unlawful assemblies of five or more people, carrying lathis or other lethal or dangerous weapons, and activities likely to disturb public tranquillity or cause a breach of peace in the designated zone. (ANI)
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