Big pandals mock recession,small get smaller

“Prices of several things have gone up. We might have to increase our budget too,” says Goutam Mukherjee,secretary of the Puja committee. In 2008,their budget was approximately Rs 20 lakh.

Same holds true for the 43-year-old Behala Nutan Dal Puja in south Kolkata. The club,famous for its themes and elaborate detailing,often enhanced by concrete and permanent structures,has in fact increased its budget from Rs 14 lakh last year to Rs 18 lakh. “We are not going to compromise. Since we had set the budget almost a year ago,we have been working towards collecting the money all year round,” says Sandipan Banerjee,convener of the Puja committee.

The club has employed agencies and has been aggressively using personal networking to bring in money for the Puja. However,all is not rosy with the smaller neighbourhood clubs and organizations that put together para baroari Pujas (small Pujas). Deepak Saha,the secretary of Naktala Pally Unnayan Samiti in south Kolkata,is struggling to collect even the small budget of Rs 4.5 lakh. “We had no problem arranging the money last year. But this time,it has become a little difficult. More because individual subscriptions from locals hardly increase,” says Saha. Adding to it,is the paucity of sponsors.

“The sponsors that we get are also small organisations,often local traders etc. They are feeling the pinch and understandably can’t part with a lot of money,” adds Saha. The likes of Saha are finding hard to get people sponsor the advertisement spaces in the souvenirs published by them. That being one of the primary sources of funds,the smaller Pujas seem to be in dire straits this year. Rana Dasgupta,convenor of the New Alipore Association Durga Puja,echoes Saha. “Ours is a 57-year-old Puja. It’s a very intimate local affair with local residents coming together for celebrations” says Dasgupta. “So we are neither high on themes nor big on sponsors. Despite that we think we have to slash our budget this time,” Dasgupta adds. The budget has shrunk from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 4.2-4.5 lakh this time.

Nevertheless,there seems to be a silver lining in the form of the big-budget Pujas. The Maddox Square Puja,which is famous for its sprawling grounds which serve as a place for adda for the young in the city,has a budget of Rs 22 lakh. “It is a little more than last year’s budget. A bamboo,which used to come for Rs 50 costs us Rs 90 now. No wonder things have become difficult for the small-budget Pujas,” says Basu.

The College Square Puja,which attracts lakhs of pandal hoppers every year,is also not in a mood to slash its Rs 30-lakh budget. “People won’t stop coming to the pandals because there is recession?” says Bikash Majumder,general secretary of the College Square Puja Committee. He adds there’s no way the committee can shrink the budget for the security and pandal construction. He says they are in talks with banks,multinationals and telecom companies for sponsorships.

HC orders ‘demolition’ of a pandal
The Calcutta High Court has directed the state government to demolish the unauthorised portion of a pandal set up for Durga Puja at RK Chatterjee Street in Kasba.

Ishita Chakraborty filed a writ petition on August 18 alleging that Adibasi Brinda had constructed a pandal on the road,which was obstructing her residence. She had requested the organisation to remove a portion of the pandal for free movement. She had also lodged a complaint with the local police for taking steps regarding this,but the police did not take any action,alleged Chakraborty in her petition.

A counsel of the state government also moved the plea that the Adibasi Brinda constructed the pandal without obtaining any permission from the local police or the fire brigade. After hearing the petition,Justice Sanjib Banerjee said that the unauthorised portion of the pandal would be demolished within a day.