DA Editorial Team
Durga Puja in Tripura is a season of lights, music and reunion, and this year the state prepared well, with more than 10,000 police personnel deployed for 3,047 pujas across nine police divisions. Yet the festival has also brought sorrow. On Maha Navami night, a minor died and another was critically injured in a high-speed scooter crash. A 37-year-old man died after falling from a Ferris wheel at an Agartala Puja fair. In Bishalgarh, two men with a pistol caused a midnight disturbance at a pandal before locals assaulted them. At Ramnagar, a journalist and his son were allegedly assaulted, and one person was detained.
Each of these events has its own causes. But together they point to three weak spots: speed on the roads, safety at fairs, and the presence of weapons in crowds.
Chief Minister Manik Saha has called for a more modern, skilled and people-oriented police force that can tackle emerging crimes. That is the right goal, and it should include festival policing. We urge the authorities to do four things. First, inspect every fair ride and publish the fitness certificate on site, with a named officer responsible. Second, enforce helmet and speed rules around pandals with visible checkpoints at night. Third, treat the possession of firearms at public gatherings as a serious offence, and act on the Bishalgarh incident quickly. Fourth, protect journalists, whose work during festivals helps the public, by investigating the Ramnagar assault to a conclusion.
Organisers deserve credit for giving their time, but volunteers are not a substitute for trained safety checks. Puja committees, municipal bodies and the district administration should sit together before next year’s festival and agree who inspects what, who signs off, and who is called when something goes wrong. A short written checklist for every pandal and fair, covering exits, crowd limits, electrical wiring and ride maintenance, would cost little.
Roads need the same attention. Late-night two-wheeler speeding is a familiar festival hazard, and the Navami crash shows its price. Traffic police can use the remaining days of the season for drives against speeding and riding without helmets, and ambulances should be positioned near the busiest pandals. After the festival, the state should publish a short review of what went wrong and what will change.
Families too can help, by keeping children and teenagers off fast two-wheelers late at night and by reporting unsafe rides. Tripura can have both.