Reference : Aaj Bikash
The puja that stirred the hornet's
nest of encroachment on public space has taken the vertical route to steer
clear of trouble this year.
Two years after Durga puja was dragged to court, thanks to a petition by a
Dover Lane resident, Singhi Park Sarbojanin Durga Puja has resolved to leave
more road space than is officially required in Puja 2006.
The pandal at the crossing of Dover Lane and Ramani Chatterjee Street, which
faced Gariahat Road and the Ekda-lia Evergreen puja further across, has
turned towards Rash-behari Avenue this year.
"Police have made three classifications based on the width of the road. Our
road being 24 ft wide, we fall in the second group of pandals on streets 20
to 30 ft wide. So, we are supposed to leave six feet of the carriageway. But
we have left 13 ft," declared president Shankar Bose.
The pandal is open on three sides, allowing vehicles to pass right through
the structure. "We have receded further on the pavement, encroaching on the
driveway of an adjacent 10-storeyed building," chairman Durgaprasad
Mukherjee explained.
The design was decided on keeping the space constraint in mind. It will be modelled on the Lotus Temple in Delhi, rising to a height of 65 ft.
"The petals of the gigantic lotus atop will be of steel. Since making the entire structure in steel will increase the weight, the decorations and the walls will be cut out of aluminium sheets," Bose said.
The new arrangement of the pandal, that
earlier kept the crossing bloced for weeks in the run-up to and during the
Puja, is receiving blessings of local residents.
"There is no opposition, not even from a small pocket," Bose says, referring
to the PIL filed in January 2005 by neighbour Tapan Kumar Mitra.
So this year, one can view the goddess while driving by. "No way. In the
evening, it will be far too crowded for that," Bose laughs.
Correspondent Sudeshna Banerjee,
The Telegraph
Dated 12.09.2006
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