Cuttack, Sept. 7: Balu Bazar Durga Puja Committee president S.N. Sangneria bears a grudge against the municipal corporation.

At a time when the Mamata Banerjee government is providing Rs 2 lakh to all registered clubs and Durga Puja committees in Calcutta, authorities here are reluctant to extend even minimum support to such initiatives, said Sangneria.

Whether government fund should be utilised for religious festival may be debatable, but the Cuttack Municipal Corporation is allegedly at fault and that has angered Puja committees. The civic body has allegedly failed to refund the security deposits collected from Puja committees while allowing them to build makeshift pandals and gates for the Durga Puja last year.

Sangneria's grudge and that of many other Puja organisers sums up the issue. 'Earlier, the Puja committees used to get sugar and kerosene under a Durga Puja quota by the government. But for years, it has been stopped. And now, they are not even refunding the security deposits.'

'It is unfortunate that the civic body's failure to update the refund process has prompted Puja committees to question the rationale of the collecting security money again,' he said.

Over 50 per cent of the Puja committees have not got back their security deposits, corporation officials conceded on condition of anonymity. This has led to a piquant situation as the organisers have questioned the rationale for collecting deposits this year without refunding the amount collected last year.

In 2000, Orissa High Court had banned digging up of roads in the city without prior approval of the corporation. The court had empowered the civic body to collect security money for giving permission to dig up roads and collect necessary funds for their restoration. The corporation had, however, started the practice of collecting security deposits from the Puja committees in 2010.

According to the norms, the committees deposit Rs 10,000 while seeking permission from the corporation before Durga Puja to set up the temporary structures and are expected to repair and restore the damage caused to the roads for refund of the security deposit.

The civic body has a squad consisting of officials of the engineering section to assess the damage caused to roads near the mandaps after the Durga Puja. A clearance certificate from the squad is necessary for refund. In cases where roads are not repaired or restored, the civic body attends to the damage and deducts the expenditure from the security money of the concerned Puja committee.

Municipal commissioner Bikash Mohapatra said: 'We have decided not to collect security money this year from the Puja committees, who have not been refunded the amount. But this will be done only if they had repaired and restored roads damaged during the Durga Puja last year.'

Explaining the reason for the money lying with the civic body, Mohapatra said: 'The refund was not possible as most of the Puja committees did not apply for it along with statement of road repair and restoration undertaken.'

However, Cuttack Mahanagar Shanti Committee president Debendra Kumar Sahu said: 'The matter has already been taken up with the corporation for an amicable settlement.'