New Delhi, Oct. 18 -- For the first time in its history, Kolkata on Saturday witnessed a stampede during Durga Puja celebrations that led to a loss of 19 lives, sending shockwaves across West Bengal.

The incident occurred at the Chorbagan Sarbojonin Durga Puja pandal, and besides the 19 deaths, 25 other people were injured in the incident.

The crisis that unfolded in Kolkata exposes a recurring blind spot at the intersection of urban technology, event infrastructure economics, and liability insurance.

While public chatter is blaming either the police or the organisers of the North Kolkata puja of mismanagement, a look at the underlying technology that remains inherently vulnerable to structural, weather, and crowd movement failures.

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