A number of clubs organising Durga Puja in Siliguri have planned to offer residents virtual options to watch the puja from the safety of home amid the pandemic.
These options include virtual streaming of the puja on Facebook accounts, YouTube channels and web portals of the organisers.
Amid apprehensions of a surge in Covid-19 cases in Bengal in the crowded festivities, Calcutta High Court on Monday ordered that Durga Puja pandals would become no-entry zones for visitors and upheld the order on Wednesday with a few relaxations.
While some puja organisers had made these plans earlier, others came up with the decisions following the pandal no-entry directives of the Calcutta High Court.
Prominent Durga Puja organisers of Siliguri like Central Colony, Haiderpara Sporting Club, Collegepara Durga Puja committee, Subrata Sangha and Dadabhai Sporting Club are working on plans to reach out to people online.
“The idea is to deter people from coming out in large numbers and swarming near the pandals, which will violate social distance and create a health risk. We will be live on various social media platforms to give a virtual experience of the pandal happenings to people as they sit back at homes during the puja. There are plans to introduce a web portal and use our official Facebook page for live streaming,” said Kanchan Roy, club member of Central Colony in New Jalpaiguri.
Nirmal Kumar Paul, the joint secretary of Haiderpara Sporting Club, another popular destination for pandal-hoppers in the northern part of the city, said: “Every ritual of the puja will be streamed live on our official Facebook page. This would enable people, particularly senior citizens and children more vulnerable to the pandemic, to have a real puja experience without risk.”
Clubs are floating webpages, opening YouTube channels and even introducing apps to reach out to people on festive days. Some, like Collegepara Durga Puja Committee, have also introduced an option for devotees to donate online.
“We have created a QR code and have circulated it among people through leaflets and social media. Anybody interested in donating any sum can scan the code and pay online,” said Somnath Moulik, the secretary of the puja committee.
