Police urge Puja organisers to expedite preparation works

Kolkata: Top brass of the Kolkata Police urged all Durga Puja organisers to complete their preparations at the earliest so that people can start visiting pandals from Tritya to avoid gathering only on four days of the Puja in the wake of Covid pandemic.

The city police held a coordination meeting with Durga Puja organisers at Netaji Indoor Stadium. The meeting was headed by Anuj Sharma, commissioner of the city police. Besides other senior officers of the Kolkata Police and Kolkata Traffic Police, officers of the state Fire and Emergency Services department, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and CESC were also present in the meeting.

Following the direction of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the police urged the Puja organisers to ensure that they should erect pandals with sufficient open space in all its three sides. At the same time, the police directed the Puja organisers to ensure that physical distancing is maintained at each and every pandals. Use of masks by each and every person in a pandal is must.

The Chief Minister held a coordination meeting with representatives of Puja committees on September 24 at Netaji Indoor stadium itself. She had also announced Rs 50,000 grant to each of the Durga Puja committees besides other supports including 50 per cent discount on power tariff.

There are around 2,509 Durga pujas that take place in Kolkata. The city police have already given permission to around 1,600 Durga Puja organisers. The same for the remaining Puja organisers are in progress.

The state government had issued a four-page guideline on September 28. Mentioning each and every aspect of the guidelines, police urged the Puja organisers to take all necessary steps to check the spread of the disease. It was also stated in the guideline that "Puja Committees should make necessary advance planning that facilitates visit to Puja pandals from Tritia itself".

The Puja organisers have to ensure floor marking to maintain physical distancing and to ensure separate entry and exit at pandals. As per the guideline, the police urged Puja organisers to keep inauguration and immersion low-key to avoid gathering and to avoid musical programmes near the Puja mandaps.

Puja organisers have also urged the concerned authorities present in the meeting to ensure repairing of certain stretches of road near College Street and arrangement of sufficient illumination at some places.