Bidhannagar Puja guidelines now require committees in Salt Lake to clear municipal grounds, parks and temporary advertising structures by October 28, with daily rent and penalties to apply for non-compliance, according to the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation.
The instructions were communicated to Puja organisers at a meeting held at the civic body’s headquarters in Salt Lake on Thursday. The municipality said Puja committees using its grounds and parks must remove their pandals and vacate the sites within the specified deadline. Committees that fail to do so will have to pay rent on a per-day basis under municipal rules.
The guidelines also cover roads and pedestrian infrastructure. Puja committees have been told not to dig on roads or footpaths to install advertising structures. The civic authorities have already informed committees that have dug such pits. Temporary advertising structures will not be permitted on road dividers, footpaths or traffic islands, the municipality said.
All temporary banners must also be removed by October 28. Failure to do so will attract penalties from the civic body. The instructions place responsibility on organisers to dismantle and store advertising frameworks safely so that they do not collapse or create a public hazard after the festival.
The municipality has further said that committees seeking to build any temporary shelter other than the main Puja pandal must obtain prior permission. This requirement applies to additional temporary structures erected within or around the event site.
The municipal meeting followed a coordination meeting between the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate and Puja committees at the New Town Convention Centre on Wednesday. Police officials issued detailed guidelines at that meeting, while the municipal authorities subsequently briefed Salt Lake committees on requirements related to site clearance, advertising installations and temporary construction.
The rules apply to the use of public land in a densely built-up urban area where grounds, parks, footpaths and road islands serve multiple purposes outside the festival period. The deadline therefore links the post-Puja dismantling process to the restoration of civic spaces and pedestrian infrastructure, although the municipality’s reported instructions do not specify separate deadlines for different types of structures.
Raja Banik, head of the Salt Lake A K Block Association, said the association supported the municipal position but argued that the guidelines had been issued at the last moment. He said it would be better if the requirements were implemented from next year, allowing committees to prepare in advance.
The immediate requirement communicated by the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation is for committees to clear municipal grounds and parks, remove temporary banners, avoid unauthorised advertising structures and secure dismantled frameworks by October 28. Committees that do not vacate the sites on time will face daily rent under municipal rules, while violations involving temporary structures and banners may attract penalties.
