Messi event chaos: Bengal Guv to prepare spl report, suggest precautions for mega gatherings

Kolkata: West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose will prepare a separate report on the management lapses witnessed at Salt Lake Stadium on the northern outskirts of Kolkata on December 13 during an event featuring Argentine football star Lionel Messi, and will also suggest to the state government the precautions that need to be adopted in future while organising such mega events, an official said on Sunday.

The Governor visited the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday to take stock of the situation following the chaos that broke out at the venue. Before leaving the stadium, he told newspersons that he intended to prepare a separate report on the incident and forward specific recommendations to the state government on measures required to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

During his interaction with the media, the Governor accused the state government of not taking adequate security precautions for an event of such magnitude, despite advance indications of potential crowd-related problems. He said there were prior alerts about the massive gathering of people eager to catch a glimpse of the Argentine football star, which should have prompted stronger preventive arrangements.

The Governor also reiterated the comments he had made on Saturday, alleging that the police administration failed to put in place sufficient advance measures to anticipate and manage the chaos arising from the huge turnout at the stadium.

“Advance precautions were necessary to ensure that the event proceeded smoothly,” the Governor said, underscoring the need for better planning and coordination among the concerned authorities in such high-profile programmes.

Meanwhile, members of the judicial committee appointed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to review the incident also visited the Salt Lake Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The committee has been tasked with examining the circumstances that led to the disorder and assessing responsibility for the lapses.

After inspecting the venue, the head of the committee, Justice (Retd.) Ashim Kumar Ray of the Calcutta High Court, appealed to media persons to refrain from conducting what he termed a “post-mortem” of the incident at this stage.

“I request all of you not to go for any kind of post-mortem at this moment. We will conduct a detailed investigation into the matter. We have taken notes on everything, and our final report will contain all the details,” he said.

However, Justice Ray declined to respond directly when asked whether any specific authority or agency could be held responsible for the apparent mismanagement at the stadium on Saturday.

“The investigation is at a preliminary stage now, so I cannot say anything at this moment,” he said.

IANS