For the first time in West Bengal, there will be a complete ban on alcohol during Durga Puja for Ashtami, CM Suvendu Adhikari announces | Today’s news
The Suvendu Adhikari government in West Bengal has announced that all liquor shops across the state will be closed on Ashtami day during the upcoming Durga Puja festivities. Alcohol will also not be served in bars and restaurants on that day.
Liquor shops remain open in West Bengal during Shashti to Navami, while they remain closed on Dashami or Dussehra day.
This year, Ashtami falls on Monday, October 19.
With this new order of the BJP government, there will be two dry days in West Bengal during Durga Puja.
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“On the day when devotees offer Anjali (Maha Ashtami) to Maa Durga, all liquor shops in the state will remain closed. No liquor will be available even in bars,” CM Adhikari said at a coordination meeting with Durga Puja committees at Milan Mela Prangan in Kolkata, PTI reported.
Following the example of his predecessor Mamata Banerjee, Suvendu Adhikari also announced that his government would pay an amount of ₹1 lakh to clubs in localities where pujas are organized. However, he appealed to the big budget puja committees not to ask for funds unless they need the same.
The World Bank government has also announced concessions in electricity and fire prevention bills to the puja committees.
The Suvendu administration also appealed to the puja committees to strictly follow the traditions involving the Durga puja and that there should be no themes, idols of the goddess or decorations of the pandals to hurt the religious sentiments of the devotees.
However, the organizers will not have to approach the courts for permission to conduct the puja, Adhikari said.
The Durga Puja program organized by the government will be held at Eden Gardens on Mahalaya and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend. The four-hour event will include drone and fireworks displays, Adhikari said, according to PTI.
Idol immersion, popularly ‘visarjan’ or ‘bhashan’ in Bengali, must be done by October 24, the government has announced, since October 25 is Lakshmi Puja in Bengal.
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Inauguration of Pujas will not be allowed before Devi Paksha begins, Adhikari said.
The government also said the use of disc jockeys (DJs) or cranes during puja or immersion was banned.
Adhikari also said that unlike every year, the Durga Puja carnival, in which idols of the goddess from some of Kolkata’s highest pujas were paraded on Red Road in the presence of former CM Mamata Banerjee, would be discontinued.
The meeting on Monday came as West Bengal prepares for its first Durga Puja under BJP rule after 34 years of Left and 15 years of TMC rule.
