A fire destroyed the Kali Puja pandal of the Kalibazar Traders Welfare Association in Panskura, East Midnapore, on Saturday afternoon, hours before the festival was due to begin and before the pandal could be inaugurated. The incident brought the final preparations at one of the area’s prominent pujas to an abrupt halt.
The pandal caught fire while workers were carrying out last-minute preparations. According to the organisers, the flames began during electrical work and may have been caused by a short circuit. The fire then spread rapidly through the fabric and temporary structures, engulfing the entire pandal.
A member associated with the puja committee said the fire started when a short circuit during electrical work ignited the cloth used in the pandal. The flames spread quickly, leaving little time to contain the blaze.
Local residents attempted to control the fire before the fire brigade arrived. Firefighters and police later reached the site and brought the blaze under control. The puja committee said the pandal had been completely burnt by the time the fire service arrived.
The Kalibazar Traders Welfare Association’s Kali Puja is regarded as one of the better-known celebrations in the Panskura area and involves a substantial budget, according to the report. The destruction came at a particularly critical point, with the committee completing preparations for the festival and the inauguration scheduled before the fire.
The immediate cause of the fire has not been conclusively established. The organisers’ short-circuit explanation remains their account of the incident, while the report did not cite a final determination by the fire service or police. No official assessment of the electrical installation or the materials used in the pandal was provided.
The incident has also raised questions about the availability and effectiveness of fire-safety arrangements at temporary festival structures. In particular, questions remain over whether adequate firefighting equipment was present at the site and why the fire could not be contained at the initial stage.
For the organisers, the fire has created uncertainty over how the puja will proceed after the loss of the entire pandal just before Kali Puja. Committee members were reported to be considering the situation after the fire was brought under control. Further details about the committee’s next steps and any official findings on the cause of the fire were not available in the report.
