Kali Puja organisers have been asked to dismantle their pandals at the earliest, preferably by Sunday, to facilitate free movement of vehicles on thoroughfares where the structures are taking up part of the road.
Senior officers of all 25 traffic guards in the city have instructed the organisers
under their jurisdictions to finish pulling down the structures.
Officers met the organisers and told them about the challenges that motorists were facing during peak hours on some thoroughfares where the structures were built. Others have spoken to the local councilors to expedite the process.
“Vehicular movement along Loudon Street is getting hit because of the Kali Puja pandal opposite Shakespeare Sarani police station,” said a senior officer.
“We have explained to the decorator how this road caters to schools and it is therefore important that the road space be restored as early as possible,” the officer said.
The outreach to the organisers follows a recent nudge from senior officers at the police headquarters in Lalbazar asking traffic guards to clear thoroughfares of pandals.
“Kali Puja ended on November 12 and within the next three days the immersions of idols has been completed. It’s six days now and the pandals should go,” a senior officer at Lalbazar told Metro.
“Traffic guards have been asked to take the necessary steps towards removing the pandals.”
On Friday, officers of several traffic guards spoke to organisers across the city conveying the message.
The organisers of a Kali Puja on Lake View Road in the south were instructed to finish dismantling the pandal as early as possible. In north and central Calcutta, officers met several organisers and gave them a deadline to clear the roads.
“Kali Puja organisers on Beadon Street and in Pathuriaghata were told that the structures must go by this Sunday,” said a senior officer.
“In north Calcutta, several puja organisers have started removing the pandals. A few who haven’t completed the work were instructed finish it this week.”
Some of the organisers said they were aware of the responsibilities.
“We started removing the structure on Thursday. It will take at least a week to complete it,” said Susanta Chakraborty, joint secretary of the Amherst Street Sadharan Sri Sri Kali Puja Committee.