Kolkata: The West Bengal government has unveiled a comprehensive set of regulations for the upcoming Durga Puja festivities, implementing curbs on alcohol sales, loud music, and major road closures alongside sweeping changes to state financial aid for local organizers. Addressing a coordination meeting with festival committees, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari announced that licensed liquor vendors and distribution outlets across the state will remain shut on Maha Ashtami. The administration has also instituted a blanket ban on disc jockey sound systems during pandal celebrations as well as immersion processions, aiming to preserve public order and reduce noise pollution.
Strict transportation directives will govern this year’s celebrations to ensure uninterrupted movement for emergency services and daily commuters. Organizers have been prohibited from erecting temporary pandals or blocking traffic on national highways, while 14 major thoroughfares in Kolkata must remain fully open throughout the festival period. Pandal designers have also been urged to ensure that creative artistic themes align with traditional customs and avoid offending religious sentiments. Furthermore, the government has discontinued the previous administration’s post-puja street carnival, replacing it with a four-hour cultural showcase at Eden Gardens on Mahalaya featuring drone displays, fireworks, and special dignitaries.
State funding for festival organizers has undergone a major restructuring, ending blanket subsidies for commercial and high-budget events. Adhikari stated that the government will no longer offer public funds to affluent organizers, urging them to forego state assistance. However, smaller committees that genuinely depend on monetary aid to conduct their rituals will be eligible for a grant of one lakh rupees following official administrative scrutiny. To ease logistics across the board, the state will waive electricity tariffs and issue mandatory fire-safety licences without charging administrative fees.
The announcement unfolded alongside a political controversy sparked by an official government advertisement depicting Goddess Durga with 11 arms instead of the canonical 10. The opposition Trinamool Congress criticized the imagery, terming it a distortion of Bengal’s deep-rooted religious traditions. Addressing the issue during the coordination conference, Adhikari tendered an apology, characterizing the publication as an inadvertent agency error and assuring that corrective measures had been taken to prevent similar lapses in official communications.
