Kolkata: Responding to criticism over why the injured victims in the recent stampede incident in a Kolkata Durga Puja pandal were shifted to a private hospital, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said on Tuesday that such a decision was taken to reduce the death toll.
On the night of ‘Navami’ (the ninth and final day of Navratri), CM Adhikari suddenly appeared in the control room of the Swasthya Bhavan in Kolkata’s Salt Lake area where he monitored various hospitals in the city and the state on a giant screen.
There, the Chief Minister said that the injured in the Chorebagan stampede were sent to private hospitals to prevent further deaths, adding: “We decided to send the injured to private hospitals on the spot so that the death toll does not increase. Then the death toll did not increase.”
He also added that there are some shortcomings in the state’s government hospitals and it will take two years to fix them.
The Chief Minister reviewed how prepared the health department is in case of any accident on the remaining days of Durga puja.
State Health Minister Sharadwat Mukherjee was present along with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
There, journalists questioned the referral of the injured to a private hospital.
The Chief Minister said that the injured victims were sent to private hospitals to save their lives, adding: “Not a single person died after being sent to a private hospital. Earlier, many died during treatment. That did not happen after they were shifted.”
Saying that there were some shortcomings in government hospitals, Chief Minister Adhikari added, “There are some shortcomings. It will take two years to improve the infrastructure like that in private hospitals. It has only been six months since the new Bharatiya Janata Party government has been formed in West Bengal.”
He also said that it should be investigated whether the doctors or junior doctors who spoke about the referral were on duty at the time of the incident.
The Chief Minister added that it is against the rules and humanely wrong to leave one’s duties while on duty.
On the night of first Saptami (Saturday), as many as 19 people lost their lives in the stampede in Chorebagan Sarbojonin Durga Puja pandal in north Kolkata.
At least 25 people were injured while 14 injured people were shifted to a private hospital.
Eyewitnesses and visitors erupted in anger against the police and administration after the tragic incident.
Their clear complaint is that the police could not handle the crowd at the Durga Puja pandal properly.
Even after the accident, the police and the disaster management team were late in reaching and helping in the rescue operations.
Seven people were arrested in connection with the incident.
(IANS)
