The Puja-related ruling of the Calcutta High Court has created confusion among puja organisers.

Puja committees that had set up food counters near the pandals are caught in a bind as residents were supposed to collect food packets from there. Banibrata Banerjee, president of the FD Block puja, said that they had decided to send the packets home. “Our volunteers will deliver them to prevent crowding,” said Banerjee.

BJ Block is locking horns with police over interpretation of what a pandal is. While the puja committee insists that it is the structure that houses the idol, the police think it is any temporary structure in the same compound. “We left a gap of 11m from our idol. From there, we left another 10m gap to create a space with a shed where our residents could offer pushapanjali from. The police is taking the pandal boundary to be the periphery of that structure. In that case, we have to offer anjali from 100m away on the road!” said secretary Bhaskar Sinha Roy.

AK Block is worried about losing revenue for the 10 stalls set up around the park. “Those who had booked them might want the advance amount back,” said secretary Aritra Sen. They plan to let residents in by rotation to see key rituals.