No. of community pujas in Calcutta: 2,800 No. of decorators based in the city: 1,100 Average budget of pujas: Rs 50,0

Must-conform fire norms for puja pandals

Electrical installations must be made by licensed electricians Separate exit and entrance gates Entry passage in pandals must be big enough for fire engines to enter No flame/cooking arrangement within 200 yards of the main pandal No inflammable materials for pandals, all pandal materials to be treated with fire retardant solutions/paints Adequate quantity of water, sand in fire buckets, fire extinguishers in pandals Picture by Amit Datta

Some of the most striking Durga puja pandals in the city this year can also be the most potent fire hazards.

After making a lot of noise about the compulsory use of fire-retardant material in the pandals, the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government has finally succumbed to pressures from the organisers-decorators lobby.

Fire services minister Pratim Chatterjee announced on Sunday that the government would not issue any such diktat, nor would it prevent the decorators from using inflammable material.

So, there?s no ban on the use of crushed sugarcane, jute fibre, bidis, coconut leaves and tyres in the pandals.

Chatterjee said: ?If we want to enforce the rule strictly, many organisers will be forced to close shop. I can?t do it, because, after all, it?s a matter of sentiment.? Organisers and decorators are reluctant to use fire-retardant solution as it escalates the cost of making pandals, he added.

Justifying his stand, the minister said: ?The organisers are conscious of their responsibilities. This is borne out by the fact that there had been no major fire in the city during the Pujas over the past two years.?

West Bengal Decorator Samanway Samity president Mantu Saha said: ?We had explained our stand to the minister. Use of fire-retardant solution will force us to charge more and we will lose business.?

While a few puja committees use fire-retardant solution on their own, others are simply not aware that there is any such rule.

Mayor Subrata Mukherjee, the driving force behind the Ekdalia Evergreen puja, said: ?I don?t know anything about such a solution. The government has not told us that use of fire-retardant solution is compulsory. We, however, take all precautions to ensure that fire does not break out. We also keep fire extinguishers ready.?

Samir Roychowdhury of Bosepukur Shitala Mandir said: ?We used fire-retardants in 2002 as our pandal was made of crushed sugarcane. This year, it will be made of iron and mud.?