Visitors stopped, later allowed in Kolkata puja pandal

The fire department conducted an inspection at the pandal and okayed the arrangements there. According to a senior police officer of the Kolkata Police, smoke was seen coming out of the chandelier at the Santosh Mitra Square puja pandal at around 1.10 am tonight following which the public viewing of the idol was stopped.

“There was a huge sound inside the pandal at around midnight. Several thousand people were at the pandal at that time. After a short while, some of our police officers spotted smoke coming from the chandelier ceiling lamp following which the decision to stop public viewing of the puja was taken for the sake of public security,” he told PTI. Fire department, along with a team of police personnel, rushed to the spot.

The organisers had a verbal duel with the police personnel posted at the pandal venue. “We are happy that the administration has revoked their decision and reopened our puja for general public. But whatever happened is unexpected,” Santosh Mitra Square Puja committee president Pradip Ghosh later told PTI, rubbishing any short circuit incident.

“This is absolute nonsense. There was no smoke inside our puja pandal. If there was any fire there must have been some sign of it around or inside the pandal. This is nothing but a conspiracy of Kolkata Police who had failed in controlling the crowd visiting our puja,” he said. “Kolkata Police have been non-cooperative throughout the Puja. I know Kolkata Police are doing this on the instructions of some influential people who are jealous because our puja has been pulling more crowd than their’s,” he alleged.

Santosh Mitra Square Puja Committee members had gheraoed local Munchipara police station this morning demanding immediate revoking of the order which was removed soon after the Puja was reopened. Santosh Mitra Square puja pandal has been drawing a very large number of visitors not only for its gorgeous London-themed pandal but also for the idol of goddess Durga which has been clad in a 22-kg gold saree of 22 carat costing around Rs 6.5 crore.

Replicas of the London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the London Bridge are the chief attractions of the pandal at the sprawling ground in central Kolkata. In 2015, the Kolkata Police had stopped Durga Puja in south Kolkata’s Deshapriya Park following a near-stampede situation as the pandal hoppers gathered in thousands to see the nearly 88-foot idol there.