Bowbazar residents give Lakshmi Puja a miss this yr

Kolkata: Bowbazar area skipped Lakshmi Puja celebrations this year as several residents are yet to return to their houses after the tunnelling disaster of the East-West Metro construction work that led to the collapse of six buildings and left several others structures being badly affected in the locality. Lakshmi Puja is performed just after Durga Puja.

At the entrance of the Syakra Para Lane, a small pandal was set up 15 metres away from the tram line for performing Durga Puja this year. However, the pandal was removed on Ekadashi, the day after Dashami.

Usually, Lakshmi Puja is performed in the same pandal where Durga Puja is performed.

"We are not performing Lakshmi Puja this year at the pandal because we only got the permission to organise the Durga Purga. The pandal was removed a day after Dashami so that the Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation Limited (KMRCL), the implementing agency of the East-West Metro project, could start the demolition and restoration work," said Dwarik Dutta of Madhyam Kolkata Syakra Para Lane Yubak Samiti (Puja organising committee).

Apart from pandals, Lakshmi Puja is also performed in most households.

"Last year, we performed Lakshmi Puja at our home. This year, we are staying away from our homes. That is why we did not perform Lakshmi Puja on Sunday," said Asit Dey, resident of 14/1 D, Durga Pithuri Lane. It seems like there is no homecoming for the residents of Bowbazar as they are witnessing their houses collapsing bit by bit due to the ongoing East-West Metro construction work.

Nostalgic about last year's celebrations, Rimpa Das, a resident of 252 B B Ganguly Street, pointed out that this year's Lakshmi Puja was like a normal day for her family.

"There was no Lakshmi Puja this year for us. Every year, my mother used to perform the rituals. On Sunday, she didn't perform puja because she is not well," said Rimpa. She reiterated that there is no proper place to conduct the rituals at the hotel where she is staying with her family. Several houses at Durga Pithuri Lane, Gour De Lane and Syakra Para Lane partially or wholly collapsed due to the tunnel disaster. At least 27 buildings needed to be demolished after they developed structural damages

following subsidence on August 31. More than 600 families were evacuated and shifted to different hotels across the city. It may be mentioned that two residents of Syakra Para Lane died due to shock (heart attack) as they witnessed their houses in a state of shambles due to the East-West Metro project work.