Several puja organisers across Calcutta said they would lose financially if the high court’s Monday order resulted in a drop in footfall.

The loss will largely be from the revenue that comes from advertisements in the form of banners, hoardings and displays at prime locations on the gates leading to a pandal. For several others, a large chunk of their revenue comes from stalls set up around the pandals.

The larger the turnout at a puja, the higher the number of advertisers who would pitch for their products there.

The rate is usually fixed on the basis of the location of an advertisement.

“Footfall for us is like the TRP for television channels,” said Debasish Bhattacharya of Kumartuli Sarbojonin Durgostav committee.

“Then comes the location of the ads. Between the first gate and the last, the difference is roughly of around Rs 40,000. If the footfall is really low, why would someone like to pay for the ads?”

Badamtala Asharh Sangha in south Calcutta has decided to put up five gates. The advertisement at the first gate, which attracts the maximum number of eyeballs, has fetched them Rs 60,000.

“If the sponsors start withdrawing one by one, what will we be left with?” asked Sandip Chakrabarty of Badamtala Asharh Sangha.

It is just the opposite for banners and hoardings. The closer a spot is to the pandal, the more expensive it is. At a big puja, the ones closest to the pandal fetch the organisers around Rs 3,000 each, while those put up at a distance bring around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,200 each.

The stalls, which sell beverages, soft drinks, fast food, junk jewellery, ice creams and sundry other items, have their rates fixed depending on their locations. Organisers of several pujas said the stalls at prime locations around pandals fetched them between Rs 50,000 and Rs 60,000 each. The ones far away from the pandal would fetch around Rs 20,000 each.

“Two agencies called up on Tuesday morning and said they would not put up stalls at our puja this year. During the pandemic most puja committees have limited sources of revenue. Even those have started drying up,” said Partha Ghosh of Shibmandir puja committee in south Calcutta.

Across Calcutta, puja committees got calls for cancellations on Tuesday, some for stalls and others for advertisements.

“Several stall owners, including a catering agency and Mitra Cafe, have informed us about their decision to withdraw. Others said they would shortly,” said Avishek Bhattacharya of Talla Barowari puja committee in north Calcutta. “We had hoped to collect around Rs 10 lakh from the stalls. So you can imagine our condition.”

In south Calcutta, several puja organisers had conceived of their “open pandals” with stalls placed at a distance of six feet from each other. Almost all of them had reduced the number of stalls by over 50 per cent compared with last year in keeping with the directives of the state government.

As calls for cancellations started pouring in, most of them have started revisiting their budgets.

“The contracts are usually done in a way so that the payment comes to us after the Puja is over. It applies to gates, banners, hoardings and stalls,” said Saswata Basu, the secretary of Hatibagan Sarbojonin Durgostav committee.

“The passion for organising a puja is so overwhelming that most organisers in Calcutta usually pay from their pockets and then wait for the money from the advertisers. That is how the budget has been drawn up for most pujas. Now, we are in a fix.”

Some puja committees that had taken advance payments from stall owners went into a huddle during the day to decide how to refund the money. Many said they didn’t have the money to return immediately.

At many pujas, the organisers failed to pay their decorators on Tuesday (Chaturthi). Most decorators pay their labourers on Chaturthi and Panchami (Wednesday).

With uncertainty about payments from stalls and advertisements, most puja committees have held back payments.

“The 20-odd labourers I have hired are demanding money. Most of them are from the Amphan-hit parts of South 24-Parganas… Sunderbans, Diamond Harbour and Joynagar,” said Suvro Bhattacharjee of SB Decorators in north Calcutta. “We don’t know what to do because the four puja committees I have been working for have held back payments.”

Several FMCG companies spoke to their agents on Tuesday to re-evaluate their Puja investments. “Four brands have asked me not to go ahead with their Puja branding till further notice,” said an agency owner.

“I don’t know what to tell my boys who were hired to set up banners and hoardings. They don't want to lose out just before the Puja.”