A Durga Puja committee in Siliguri has announced plans to adorn its idols with 100 kilos of gold ornaments this year, prompting preparations for extensive security and crowd-control measures at the new venue in New Jalpaiguri.
The Central Colony Durga Puja Committee, which is organising its 64th Puja, said the jewellery would be displayed on the Durga idol and the other idols at the pandal. The committee estimated that the ornaments would be worth around ₹140 crore at prevailing gold prices, though the value was presented as an estimate by the organisers.
Kanchan Roy, president of the committee, described the plan as a first-of-its-kind initiative by a Durga Puja committee in and around Siliguri. He made the announcement at a news meet on Tuesday, saying the Puja had traditionally attracted thousands of pandal-hoppers through new attractions each year.
The event will also take place at a different location this year. For several years, the committee had organised the Puja at the Railway Institute Ground near the Gate Bazaar area of New Jalpaiguri. The railway authorities are now developing that ground into a cricket field, leading the organisers to shift the Puja to an adjacent plot near the office of the additional divisional railway manager.
Roy said a prominent jewellery retailer would provide the gold ornaments for the idols. The committee is planning multiple layers of protection for the display, including CCTV cameras at several points across the premises and armed security personnel at the pandal.
Visitors will not be allowed to approach the idols closely. According to Roy, pandal-hoppers will be stopped eight feet ahead of the idols, with a barricade installed to allow people to view the display and exit the area safely. The arrangement is intended to regulate movement around the idols while reducing the risk of theft or crowding.
The committee said the entire premises would remain under CCTV surveillance and that a private security agency would deploy armed guards. Roy added that the organisers had already held a couple of meetings with the Siliguri Metropolitan Police on security arrangements.
The venue change places the Puja on land adjacent to a railway administrative facility, while the earlier ground is being repurposed as a cricket field. The committee’s announcement therefore combines a high-value public attraction with a change in the use of the site traditionally associated with the event.
Further details about the jewellery retailer, the precise insurance arrangements and the dates of the Puja were not provided in the announcement. The committee’s stated next steps are the installation of barricades and CCTV systems, deployment of private armed guards and continued coordination with the Siliguri Metropolitan Police before the event.
