Justice Rajasekhar Mantha of Calcutta High Court on Wednesday said the state should have “proper guidelines” for puja organisers who want to erect pandals blocking roads.
“Until and unless the state frames proper guidelines for holding pujas by blocking roads, the problems of the common citizen cannot be solved,” Justice Mantha said.
The judge said this while hearing a petition seeking an order to the state to allow Hanuman Puja at Sishu Bharat Ground in Bansdroni on the city’s southern fringes on Thursday and Friday.
“I am personally against organising pujas by blocking roads. In the present case, the puja has been celebrated at the same spot for a long time. So the court cannot stop the puja,” Justice Mantha said, while allowing the petition with the condition that the organisers should maintain peace during the festivity.
“Organisers will have to see that common people of the area are not harassed because of the puja,” he said.
Kolkata police on Tuesday issued a detailed format for seeking permission for public meetings and processions. It includes a list of 27 norms which organisers have to undertake to abide by to get permission for the event.
Senior officers at Lalbazar said there are separate guidelines for pujas.
In the Bansdroni Hanuman Jayanti case, the permission to organise the puja was neither granted nor denied by the police, said an officer.
“They had applied for permission. The decision was pending. The organisers directly went to the court,” said an officer of the rank of assistant commissioner.
The high court had in 2009 issued specific guidelines for organising pujas and erecting pandals, the officer said.
According to those guidelines, all four sides of a puja pandal have to be at least 4 feet away from the property line of any building, boundary wall or any other permanent structure.
“The height of the super-structure of any pandal cannot exceed 40ft. Also, there are specific guidelines related to the material to be used for the construction of pandals,” an officer said, citing the high court order.
Every pandal must have separate entrance and exit gates for better evacuation in case of a fire or any other emergency.
“There is a specific guideline on the height of the gates. The entry passage in a pandal has to be designed in a way that a fire engine can enter the structure without facing any obstruction. No open flame can be used and no cooking is allowed within 200 yards of the main pandal,” the officer said.
According to pollution control board guidelines, loudspeakers can be played only between 6am and 10pm and the sound should not cross 65 decibel. Bursting firecrackers is not allowed except onsome designated days and in specified hours. Hanuman Jayanti is not one of the occasions when firecrackers can be lit.
An adequate quantity of water, sand-filled buckets and fire extinguishers have to be kept at the pandals.
An officer at Lalbazar said no puja is granted permission if the organisers do not give an undertaking that they would abide by all norms. However, many small pujas are organised without permission from the police.
HIGH COURT GUIDELINES ON PANDALS
- All four sides of a pandal must be at least 4ft away from the nearest property line, boundary wall or any other permanent structure
- The height of a pandal’s superstructure should not exceed 40ft
- Separate entry and exit gates
- The height of a gate should be within 12-14 feet
- No cooking or flame allowed within 200 yards of the main pandal
- Adequate water and sand to be stored near the pandals