Members of 10 gated communities and 10 blocks receive a Covid Safe Puja Award from Debashis Sen, chairman of New Town Kolkata Development Authority (NKDA) on the final day of the New Town Carnival on Sunday.

“Every year NKDA felicitates the best puja, idol, decoration etc in New Town but in 2020 we wanted it to be low-key affair. So we are awarding the top pujas that best maintained Covid safety protocol on the recommendation of New Town Forum and News (NTFN),” said Sen.

Social group NTFN had compiled the Covid guidelines issued by the government and the high court before the Pujas and used them as criteria for their markings. “We had 26 volunteers who did the rounds of 86 pujas,” said vice-president Ankur Roy Choudhury. “We even paid surprise visits and found that while some organisers claimed to have called off cultural programmes, the events took place after all!”

Arabindo Adhikary, president of the Alaktika Housing Complex puja committee, said the judges even made calls to security guards and random residents to verify claims. “We cancelled community lunch, shifted functions online and were very strict about anjali and sindur khela. Residents

had to make sacrifices but it was a matter of safety,” said Adhikary.

Pictures by Gautam Bhadra and Shukraditya Bose