PARADIP: Street vendors who had arrived in the port town from different parts of the state in the hope of making brisk business during the Biswakarma Puja festival, staged demonstration in front of the Paradip Port Authority (PPA) administrative building on Tuesday demanding refund of their money deposited for setting up temporary stalls.
The agitating vendors claimed they suffered financial losses after the administration suspended the festival midway due to heavy rain and gusty winds triggered by a deep depression over Bay of Bengal.
The Biswakarma Puja festival began on September 17 and was scheduled to conclude with a mass immersion ceremony on September 24. As weather conditions remained favourable during the initial days, hundreds of traders from different parts of Odisha arrived in the port town and set up temporary shops. However, after three days of business, the administration decided to suspend the festival apprehending adverse weather conditions.
The decision came after the bamboo light gate of a puja pandal collapsed due to strong winds, damaging a car and two motorcycles on Monday. The vendors said they paid deposits through demand drafts to the Port Estate department for allotment of plots to set up temporary stalls. With the festival activities now stopped, they were allegedly facing difficulties in recovering the money spent on stall deposits, transportation and labour.
More than 600 temporary stalls had been set up near the beach during the festival. The traders said they had paid substantial amounts for the plots but could conduct business for only around three days.
Sumitra Behera, a trader from Puri, said she had deposited `17,000 with the PPA through a demand draft for the stall. She also spent around `12,000 on transportation to bring her materials to Paradip. She argued that since the remaining festival days had been cancelled due to circumstances beyond their control, her deposit should be returned.
Later in the day, local revenue officials pacified the agitating vendors and assured them that their grievances would be placed before the PPA chairman. PPA estate officer Biswajit Mishra did not respond to calls for his comment on the issue.
