The spectre of economic slowdown has not spared the god of prosperity.

A Ganesh puja in Kasba has curtailed its budget by 30 per cent this year. Another in Salt Lake can no longer afford singers from Mumbai for soirees and has to bank on local artistes. A third near Gariahat has organisers paying from their pockets for the bhog.

Most Ganesh pujas in the city depend on donations from traders and small businesses in the area.

“The deity is very close to the hearts of the business community. But since profits have seen a slump across businesses, donations have dried up,” said the organiser of a puja near PNB Island in Salt Lake.

The pandal has shrunk from 30ft to 20ft. The idol is modelled after one in a shrine at Dantewada.

Before 2017, the puja would host a musical extravaganza with singers from Mumbai. For the past two years, local singers have replaced them, said an organiser.

Puja committees and patrons blamed GST and demonetisation for the decline in business, which in turn had made puja budgets leaner.

Expenses have gone up but most of the idol and pandal- makers still accept payments in cash or bearer cheques, they said.

The Ganesh Puja organised by the Gariahat Traders Guild at Hindusthan Park is one of those that has been affected. “Bajar khub kharap (the condition of the market is very bad),” said Tarak Talukdar, one of the organisers and the owner of a small eatery in Gariahat. His own business has seen a 40 per cent dip, he said.

The puja is dependant on donations from over 60 business units in the Gariahat area. “Small businesses have been badly hit. We cannot force anyone to pay any amount,” said another member of the organising committee.

The committee spends a hefty sum on food packets — around 1,200 of them — distributed among traders and their employees. “We cannot curtail that. To meet the expenses, we have used a part of the funds from the guild’s bank account and also pitched in ourselves,” he said.

The Gariahat Traders Guild’s Ganesh Puja pandal at Hindusthan Park

A Ganesh idol at a pandal near P Majumdar Bridge in Kasba.

The number of Ganesh pujas in the city has gone up but not the funds. There are around 250 registered pujas but the actual count is much higher, police sources said. There have been no additions to the list for the past two years.

The puja organised by Ganapati Bhakt Mandal on Rakhal Mukherjee Road in Bhowanipore has an 11ft idol painted in black and decorated with imitation gold. “Last year, the idol was brought from Mumbai on a truck. What we spent on the idol last year is the total budget this year,” said Gopi Thakker, the organiser.

“If my business takes a hit, how can I keep donating hefty amounts?” asked a real-estate developer in Behala who contributes to several pujas.

In Kasba, the P. Majumdar Bridge Indu Park Garden Committee’s puja has slashed its budget. The pandal was modelled on Acropolis mall last year and the idol’s enclosure was air-conditioned. This year the theme is Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar. “The pandal budget this year is nearly a third of the previous year’s. The musical programme will have just one band instead of two or three,” said Shankar Das, the secretary of the committee.

Earlier, a phone call to a patron was enough for a donation. “This year, we had to visit almost every patron to ask for contributions,” said another committee member.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday visited Maharashtra Mandal, an organisation of Maharashtrians in Bengal that celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi.