Durga Puja: ‘Over 55K organisers received temporary power connections this year’

Kolkata: Despite the ongoing junior doctors agitation and a speculation being floated by a section that Puja celebration may not attain its grandeur this year due to several movements, Bengal has seen a rise in the number of Puja pandals applying for temporary power connections.

As many as 55,857 Puja organisers received temporary power connections which include the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) and the CESC areas. Last year, 52,483 Puja organisers were given temporary connections across the state.

In a press statement issued on Monday, it has been stated that WBSEDCL provided 50,556 temporary Puja connections this year and CESC 5,301 whereas in 2023 the total figure (both WBSEDCL and CESC combined) stood at 52,483 of which 47,275 connections were given by WBSEDCL and 5,208

by CESC. The power supply during Puja days this year went up by over 5.7 per cent throughout the state, including CESC’s jurisdiction. There has been around 6.43 per cent increase in the number of Puja pandals this year. The total power supply both by WBSEDCL and CESC reached up to 9,912.71 MW during the Puja days. The figure stood at 9,371.37 MW in 2023.

The WBSEDCL provided 50,550 temporary connections to Puja committees throughout Bengal till Sasthi morning. For temporary connections, around 337.15 MVA extra load demand was met that day. WBSEDCL had received Rs 8.08 crore against these connections as security deposits till Sasthi.

To ensure better customer service, 1883 LT mobile vans had been deployed round-the-clock to counter any power disruption/fault across all the districts in the WBSEDCL areas. The crowds started congregating outside towering pandals across the state even before Panchami similar to what happens every year.

Kolkata, like every year, witnessed an electrifying atmosphere this year as well with thousands of people hitting the streets clad in new dresses, plunging into merriment on all the puja days. Some people however had started thronging Durga Puja pandals from Mahalaya. The UNESCO had declared Durga Puja an intangible cultural heritage of humanity because of the huge participation of its people — numbering in crores.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while inaugurating a puja pandal this year had said: “What Bengal can do, the rest of the world cannot. Crores and crores of people join this (Durga Puja). Thus, I keep saying that the word ‘Utsab’ (festival) is based on ‘Utsarito’ (sourced) from the people.”