The Covid-19 restrictions, for the second consecutive year of Durga Puja, has caused tent house owners, pandal decorators, light and sound system providers to turn wary.
Following the state government guidelines issued on Thursday, most of the 200 plus tent house owners and decorators are in a dilemma whether to take orders for pandal installation or during the ensuing grand Puja.
The restrictions imposed in 2020 in view of Coronavirus had broken their financial backbone and repetition of the similar guidelines this year will ruin the business completely, they said.
"Last year when Covid-19 pandemic hit the steel city, leading the state government to issue notification for restricted Puja by setting up small pandals and small idols, we coped up the situation like a testing period. But when we are poised to have a similar situation this year too, providing service for pandal erection and decoration is painful for us," said Arvind Kumar Singh, proprietor of Shubham Tent to The Telegraph Online.
Singh said whereas an average Puja pandal used to be of an area measuring 60 ft by 80 ft at a cost of Rs one lakh, most of the pandals were set up on an area measuring 15 ft by 20 ft only.
"I used to set up three Puja pandals every year. Last year, I managed to buy new clothes for the pandals as it is necessary for decorating the pandals for Goddess Durga. I had also managed to set up miniature pandals by engaging a minimum number of workers. But this year neither am I in a condition to buy new clothes for the pandals nor able to engage minimum workers. Because the workers for such things remain in groups and none of the groups is ready to work in a fragmented way," explained the tent house owner.
Another tent house owner, Anup Sablok also echoed what Arvind Kumar Singh said.
"I used to set up and decorate Puja pandals at a cost starting from Rs 70,000 to Rs 10 lakh every year. But the organisers of the big budget Puja had not given any order for the traditional Puja pandals last year due to Covid pandemic. This year also I am going to face the same problem," said Sablok, owner of Bharat Tent while talking to The Telegraph Online.
Sablok said like several other tent house owners, he used to earn a good profit by setting up Puja pandals, but having incurred huge loss last year he is no more interested to bear any further loss by indulging in Puja pandal business.
In Jamshedpur, over 300 public Puja are organised, most of the organisers would install elegant pandals by spending lakhs.