Kolkata: The West Bengal government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the stampede that occurred near the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata on October 17.

Formed on the advice of the Calcutta High Court, the team has been tasked with identifying the causes of the incident, examining possible negligence and recommending measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. The SIT must submit its report to the state government within three months from the date of the order.

According to an order issued on October 21 by West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal, retired judge Anandita Roy Saraswati will head the SIT. Its other members will include the Principal Secretary of the state’s Disaster Management and Civil Defence Department, the Director General and Inspector General of the Special Task Force (STF), a representative of the West Bengal Director General and Inspector General of Police, a representative of the Home and Hill Affairs Department, and a representative of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in Kolkata.

According to the order, the SIT may request the state government to include any other officer in the investigation team if required.

The team has been directed to establish the circumstances that led to the stampede near the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal on October 17. It will investigate the timing, location and sequence of events, as well as determine how crowd pressure suddenly increased and eventually turned into a stampede.

The investigation will cover several possible factors, including overcrowding, adverse weather conditions, rain or thunderstorms, crowd-management arrangements at the entrance, rumours, power failures, inadequate entry and exit facilities, structural deficiencies, and possible lapses in crowd-control measures.

The SIT will also assess the estimated number of people present at the venue, crowd movement and the arrangements for entry and exit. It will further examine whether the number of people gathered at the site exceeded its designated or reasonably estimated safe capacity.

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