Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said Durga Puja pandals should be kept open on the sides to ensure free flow of air, stressing one of the key precautions against the spread of Covid-19.

“Durga Puja is a big challenge and in Bengal, it is a national festival. Let the pandals be kept open so that there is circulation of air,” Mamata said in Nabanna. “Open thakley hawa batash boibe (If it is kept open, air will flow). It is for precaution. To be safe.”

The Puja starts on October 22 (Sashthi) and many organisers across Calcutta have started erecting pandals.

“We will request the Puja committees to keep the pandals open on the sides. There is no point keeping some provisions for ventilation. Khola howa thakley onek bhalo hobey (It would be better if there is free passage of air),” the chief minister said.

Bengal is not unfamiliar with what Mamata has suggested. Till the advent of theme-based pujas, pandals across Calcutta used to be largely open structures.The idols would be placed in a three side-covered area and the main pandal would open into a mandap or a shamiana.

Since the time theme-based Pujas became fashionable, pandals would be made in a manner that would require visitors to enter the structures to watch the idols.

Mamata said the customary meeting with the puja organisers would be held on September 25, where the precautionary steps needed to be taken would be discussed.

“Many visitors turn up at pandals to offer anjali. If the pandal is kept open, it would be easier to breathe. If there are any germs, even those will go away,” Mamata said, explaining why she felt the need for restructuring puja pandals this year.

“The (corona)virus is yet to go away. I’m not saying about the area where the deity will be kept. But the remaining space can be kept open.”

Mahalaya, which for many marks the beginning of Bengal’s autumn festivity, usually precedes the Puja by a week. But this year the occasion is just two days away and more than a month before the Puja.

Around 4,500 community pujas are organised in the city every year. With the Covid-19 pandemic playing havoc, most organisers have cut down their budgets, opting for smaller idols and trimming other expenditures. But themes have remained.

With the chief minister suggesting to keep pandals open, several organisers said they would have to sit down with the artists to find a way out so that the themes prevailed and the pandals were kept open.

“There is not much time. We will have to sit with our artists and discuss Plan B,” said Sandipan Banerjee, of Behala Notun Dal puja committee. “I think a clear picture will emerge when we get to meet the chief minister.”

The chief minister also referred to the global advisory board she had earlier set up for Covid-19 management and said the panel suggested keeping puja pandals open. The advisory board is headed by Nobel laureate economist Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee.

“We have accepted their proposal. I will also request the puja committees to do so,” Mamata said.