Chorbagan stampede: A week later, the strangest visarjan Kolkata has seen

Ropes circled her neck, her waist, her hands. The Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga, tied down for her final journey, was carried to Nimtala Ghat on Saturday, a week after a stampede at her pandal killed 19 people on the night of Maha Saptami, October 17.

Visarjan is usually a roar: dhak drums, conch shells, and married women pressing sindoor onto the goddess and onto each other before she is taken to the Hooghly. Tears and laughter arrive together, and Bengal promises she will return.

This was nothing like that. There was no Debi Boron, the ritual in which married women offer sweets and sindoor to the goddess, and no Sindoor Khela. Immersion stayed uncertain until retired judge Anindita Roy Saraswati, who heads one of the two special investigation teams, cleared it on one condition: the main pandal structure must be preserved as evidence.

A section of the entrance gate had to be cut open on Friday so the towering idol could be brought out. On Central Avenue, she waited for a time as residents gathered. Some women bowed before her, and some neighbours walked ahead carrying candles. A black banner on the truck carried condolences to the families of the dead and injured. A large police contingent supervised, and no member of the puja committee was present.

An elderly woman folded her hands, tears running down her face. "So many people died before our eyes," she said. "May we never have to witness such a terrible time again."

Sananda Roy, a local resident, spoke of what the neighbourhood was denied. "This year, there was no Debi Boron," she said. "Mother, please forgive us."

Another resident said the cries and the scenes from that evening still haunt them.

Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Saturday that, apart from Chorbagan, the roughly 66,000 pujas across West Bengal had passed peacefully. "It would have been better if this tragedy had not happened," he said. "Now, we must learn from it and be more cautious." He said an administrative meeting would be held before Kali Puja to review safety.

A day earlier, after visiting the families of victims Shubham Sonkar in Manicktala and Mithu Mondal in Shyampukur, he called the stampede "primarily due to human error." He said the loss of 19 lives within a minute or two was "very painful," and promised that the inquiry report, due within three months, would be placed before the Assembly and made public.

Each bereaved family is to receive Rs 25 lakh and a Group D government job. He will meet representatives of about 8,000 puja committees on October 26 to discuss safety for 2027.

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Where the investigation stands

Nine people, including two announcers, have been arrested. Police allege that a loudspeaker announcement claiming part of the pandal was collapsing set off panic among crowds sheltering from rain. Twenty-five people were injured.

Kolkata Police have asked a court for permission to collect voice samples from two of the accused, puja treasurer Sanjib Raha and Kushal Majumdar, to compare against three or four audio and video clips of the announcements.

Police have recorded statements from about 60 people, including injured survivors, home guards, civic volunteers, private security staff and residents. A six-member SIT led by Justice Saraswati was constituted on October 21, and a chargesheet will follow once the evidence is examined.