BHUBANESWAR: Durga Puja in the state capital city will be DJ, alcohol and plastic-free this year.
A decision to this effect was taken at the preparatory meeting on Durga Puja celebrations held here on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by officials of the Commissionerate Police, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and all the stakeholders concerned.
As per the decision, no puja committee in the city will play DJ music during Dussehra and immersion ceremony, said Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda.
“The puja committees have also assured us that the celebrations will be alcohol-free. Puja organisers will take pledge to refrain from consuming alcohol or any other intoxicant during the festival. The Comissionerate Police will print and distribute ‘pledge posters’ among puja committees for display at mandaps,” he said.
Panda further said steps will be taken to put in place adequate security and traffic arrangements during the festival. CCTV cameras will be installed at all puja mandaps. The existing CCTV cover of the city will also be increased as per need and more surveillance cameras may be installed at different locations for safety and security of citizens. If required, night patrolling will also be extended.
MLAs Babu Singh, Ananta Narayan Jena and mayor Sulochana Das urged puja committee members to take steps to make the celebrations plastic-free and check use of single-use plastic by vendors near pandals. The meeting was attended by representatives of 187 puja committees.