Siliguri’s 64th Central Colony Durga Puja will move to a new venue this year, where a 100-kg gold ensemble featuring Goddess Durga and the four deities accompanying her is expected to draw large crowds from across North Bengal and beyond.
The Central Colony Durga Puja committee has organised the event for 63 years at the Central Colony Railway Ground. The venue has been changed after the Railways decided to develop a cricket ground at the site. The new location is close to NJP Police Station and approximately 200 metres away, according to the organisers.
The committee said the change would not reduce the scale of the celebration. The mandap is being designed by artists from Balurghat, while the illumination is being prepared by artists from Chandernagore. The gold ensemble will include Goddess Durga, Kartik, Ganesh, Lakshmi and Saraswati.
The anticipated turnout has led organisers to plan multiple layers of crowd management at the new ground. Barricades will be installed around the mandap, with the first barricade positioned about eight feet from the structure. A separate barricade will be placed behind the mandap to regulate visitor movement and prevent overcrowding.
The entire venue will be covered by CCTV cameras, the organisers said. Several security personnel will be deployed, while police arrangements will be made under the supervision of senior state police officials. The measures are intended to manage visitor movement around the display and maintain a controlled circulation area as crowds gather.
The relocation places the puja near an important railway and police-services area, while also requiring the organisers to adapt a long-running public event to a new ground. The committee said arrangements had been made to preserve the attraction and scale of the celebration despite the venue change.
The puja is scheduled to be inaugurated at 6pm on Tritiya. Invitation letters have been sent to the Prime Minister, the West Bengal chief minister, Members of Parliament and Members of the Legislative Assembly, according to the organisers.
