Chief Minister on Tuesday urged the Uttar Pradesh government to immediately release the promised compensation announced for the families of the victims of the January 29 stampede at Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj. Addressing a press conference at Nabanna, the state secretariat, on Tuesday, Banerjee said, “Yogi (CM Yogi Adityanath) saheb may attack me, but I have full respect for him. They did not give postmortem certificates to the victims’ families and also did not give death certificates. These families are facing hardships. In some cases, we did the postmortem after the body reached here. I am only saying your (Yogi) government should pay compensation which was announced for the victims.” The UP government had announced a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each for the families of people who lost their lives during the Kumbh Mela stampede. At least two victims of the total 30 were from West Bengal. Banerjee, who had earlier referred to the event as "Mrityu Kumbh" for the alleged mismanagement by the Uttar Pradesh government, on Tuesday stressed that her remarks were not directed at the pilgrims but at the lack of proper planning and preparation for the event. “I respect Maha Kumbh and the Holy Ganga. But I am concerned about the system and preparations there. If there is no proper planning, people will suffer,” she said.
