West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Wednesday, October 21, said only followers of Sanatan Dharma would be allowed to touch Durga idols during immersion in the Hooghly river, asserting that religious traditions must be followed, news agency PTI reported. He made the remarks while reviewing immersion arrangements at Babughat in Kolkata with Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Kumar Nand and Kolkata Municipal Commissioner Smita Pandey.

"I have instructed the CP to keep the identification of those who will be involved in carrying the idols into the Hooghly. Those who follow Sanatan Dharma will touch the idols. There is no communal matter in it," Adhikari said, according to PTI. "To maintain the purity of the immersion, we have to follow the traditions, the scriptures and the rules that have been followed for several thousand years. This is a festival, but primarily it is a religious programme," he said.

On the arrangements, Adhikari said trolleys had been arranged instead of cranes following complaints, and that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been included in the arrangements this year. He said the police, disaster management authorities and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation could seek help from other agencies, including the Kolkata Port Trust, if required, and that the river water would be cleaned after the immersion process ends on October 24. After Babughat, he reviewed arrangements at ghats on the Howrah side of the Hooghly from a boat.

The Chief Minister also flagged concern over spectators travelling in country boats to watch the immersion in the Ichamati river at Taki in North 24 Parganas district. At least 200 country boats were expected to carry spectators, he said, adding that the administration had tried to discourage the practice but had to take local sentiments into account. Life jackets and weight-balancing measures have been provided, the Border Security Force (BSF) has been enlisted to assist at Taki, a cabinet minister has been sent to the area, and the DIG of Police, Barasat Range, has been given oversight. The tightened immersion arrangements follow the stampede at the Chorbagan Durga Puja pandal on Mahasaptami evening, which killed 19 people.