Team News Riveting
The advisory of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee to keep Durga puja pandals open from all sides has forced organisers to rethink and redesign the entire set up.
The chief minister had said that Durga Puja pandals should be open on all sides so that there was free movement of air. “Durga Puja is a big challenge and in Bengal it is a national festival. Let the pandals be kept open so that there is circulation of air,” Mamata had said.
Several Durga Puja organisers across Kolkata have decided to alter the structures to ensure pandals have a bigger space and air circulation to hinder the spread of Covid-19.
They have been meeting their artists and decorators to discuss ways to abide by the advisory. The bigger task is altering the pandals with less than 40 days to go till the Puja.
Some organisers had been exploring whether the ceiling height of the pandal could be increased, while others pondered over how to build additional gates to ensure the air flow was not hindered.
In July, the Forum for Durgostav, an umbrella organisation of about 350 pujas in Calcutta, had agreed on a 17-point code on how to organise the Puja amid all restrictions. One of the codes was that pandals would be constructed in a way so one could see the idol even from a distance.
The chief minister is scheduled to meet Puja organisers on September 25.
