The ‘Forum for Durgotsab’, an umbrella body of all the big Durga Pujas in West Bengal, expressed their dismay over a petition filed on Wednesday by advocate Sabyasachi Chatterjee in the Calcutta High Court to restrict the scale of celebrations to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Calcutta High Court is likely to hear the plea on Friday.
Reacting to the petition, Saswata Basu, the General Secretary of the Forum, said, “I don’t know why such a petition was filed. All we can say is that we are strictly following all the guidelines of COVID-19 safety and taking all precautionary measures. Puja is just a few days away and such a petition is disheartening for the organisers. It takes a lot of effort to organise Durga Puja, including the labour of artisans, labourers, sculptures, flower traders, fruit traders, Dhaki (drum) players, etc. This is their bread and butter.”
“The state government has already issued a notification to all the puja club committees in the state and framed strict guidelines for Durga puja celebration. We are following all the norms. Also, we are expecting a less crowd this year due to non-functional local train services in Bengal. Overall, we are fully prepared for the festival,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chatterjee drew the attention to the vulnerability of a crowd to the fatal virus and said“I filed the petition for the larger interest of people. This virus is dangerous and there are high chances that the infection will increase rapidly after the Dura Puja celebration.”
“In Kolkata, the unique thing is the crowd movement. You will notice, the crowd moves from morning to night and nothing could be more conducive for the spread of the virus than this. I would like to appeal to the Court to ban all kinds of public gathering in all the Durga Puja in the state.”
Earlier, on September 24, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee laid out the plan for Durga Puja and issued guidelines, from inauguration to immersion, that the organisers and administration will have to strictly follow. She issued a set of directives to contain the spread of Covid-19 during the festive season.
Banerjee also announced a grant of Rs 50,000 each to nearly 30,000 puja committees across the state.
In 2019, the amount was Rs 25,000, but it was doubled this year in view of the pandemic crisis.
The grant was given to promote the cultural and the traditional legacy of Durga puja in Bengal with a focus on community development. The announcement is likely to cost the public exchequer around Rs 140 crore.
During a meeting with Durga Puja committees, Banerjee announced that there would also be a 50 per cent concession on electricity bills for the committees. Last year it was 25 per cent.
Read all the Latest News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment