Standard Operating Procedure for Durga Puja pandals: Why does prevention begin after a tragedy?

The first questions which generally come to light after a major tragic incident are: What happened? Was the police present? Did the organisers comply with rules? Could the administration have done better?

However, often the last question of ‘could this have been avoided?’ is overlooked.

Following the tragic stampede on the 17th October 2026 at the Chorbagan Sarbojanin Durga Puja pandal in North Kolkata which resulted in the death of 19 people and the injury of 25, investigations are being carried out into crowd management, emergency access, lighting and what caused the rush. A 6-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed by the West Bengal government on the 21st October led by Retired Judge of the Calcutta High Court Anindita Roy Saraswati. The team must advise on measures to prevent similar disasters from happening again. They must deliver their findings in 3 months.

While they must determine who is responsible, the tragedy also raises the issue of whether there are ways to increase public safety. If there are crowd management guidelines, why did such a large gathering become so dangerous?

What is a Standard Operating Procedure?

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a document outlining how an activity should be performed safely.

An SOP can help identify who will be responsible for crowd management, monitoring crowd density, emergency response and medical support. It can also specify when to limit entry, how to safely evacuate people and who can close the event.

This document should clearly outline what should happen in certain situations for organisers, security, volunteers and public authorities.

To help reduce the risk of an emergency occurring.

Where are SOPs needed?

Crowd management is very important at train stations, airports, stadiums, concerts and political/religious events/festivals.

Guidelines have been published by India’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA). This includes controlling the flow of pedestrians, providing clear signage, ensuring emergency exits are available, using barriers to control queues, crowd management and having medical support available.

It also emphasises fire safety and dangers caused by unauthorised structures.

When considering Durga Puja, many popular pandals have a large number of visitors in a short amount of time.

However, this will only be effective if the general guidelines have been put into action at the specific location.

Chorbagan

Many of the Durga Puja events in Kolkata take place in busy areas. Popular pandals often take place in densely populated areas.

Often crowd management can become difficult due to narrow pathways, temporary structures, roadside stalls and lack of emergency access. While there may seem to be a clear way to get in and out, things may get dangerous when lots of people turn up or if it rains suddenly.

The investigation into Chorbagan has highlighted this. The stampede did not occur inside the pandal but at the entrance. The lack of good lighting is an issue. They are investigating the narrow exit pathway and whether there was an emergency gate available.

The police have also investigated the warning that the pandal was at risk of collapse. The treasurer of the organising committee was arrested on the 23rd October. However, this does not mean they are definitely responsible for the crime but they are looking into whether the warning caused panic.

This shows that simply asking whether the pandal had permission is not enough. They should also look at whether there is enough room to get in and out, how easy it is to get in and out, lighting, crowd management and how they would respond to sudden changes.

Do we not have SOPs in Kolkata?

Although there is national guidance, and the authorities are looking to improve safety measures at large pandals, the most important thing to consider is whether the correct rules and requirements were put in place for specific locations.

General advice won’t help to widen narrow pathways. If the crowd management isn’t good then having security won’t help. If there isn’t an emergency exit then it won’t help much.

They need to find out what permission they had, what safety measures they should have had, whether they had them and if there were any issues causing deaths. This should be based on evidence.

What should change?

Large pandals should have crowd management plans specific to their location. This should look at the layout, pathways and how many people are likely to visit. They should look at how much people can fit in overall.

There should be clear steps to control crowd flow. Organisers and authorities should know what to do when there is more congestion. There should be clear emergency pathways and steps to take in case of rain, power cuts and other unforeseen issues.

Volunteers and security should know what their roles are and have the correct training. They should know how to communicate with visitors, report dangerous crowd pressures and work with the police and emergency services.

Inspections should result in changes. The authorities should check to make sure any dangers have been fixed.

Everyone should be held responsible. Investigations should look into how they planned, what permission they had, whether they enforced rules, emergency responses and how they worked with the agencies involved.

Prevention

The tragedy at Chorbagan has resulted in an investigation and increased focus on crowd safety. Whilst this is necessary, to make a long-term difference there should be changes to reduce the risk of another disaster.

Durga Puja is a huge part of Kolkata’s cultural identity so it’s important to keep this safe for everyone.

Rather than having an SOP, it’s important to have realistic safety measures, clear roles and a system in place to prevent crowds getting out of control.

After every tragedy we ask who is responsible. We should also ask what could have been done to prevent it from happening and why it wasn’t done in time.