প্রতিমা নিরঞ্জনে মাইক ব্যবহার নিষিদ্ধ করল প্রশাসন
District Administration prohibits use of music system during idol immersion procession

August 31: In connection with the ensuing Durga Puja, a meeting was held in the conference hall of the Deputy Commissioner, Cachar on Friday. The meeting chaired by DC Laya Madduri was attended by the office bearers of the Puja Committees of the district.

ADC Jessica Rose Lalsim narrated at length the objective of the meeting and hoped that the ensuing Durga Puja will be celebrated amidst peace and tranquility. It was then informed that a letter had already been issued to the Pollution Control Board, Silchar from District Administration Cachar for inspection and to take necessary steps as per law for strict compliance of the pollution control guidelines.

ADC Smt Jessica Rose informed the members of the Puja Committees about zero use of plastic. She said that the pandals and gates should be made without creating roadblocks. Going a step further, she informed that if any Puja Committee has already constructed the same obstructing the road, then these should be removed immediately by the concerned Puja Committees.

Further, Puja committees were asked to contact PWD roads, NH Building Division, SMB for obtaining necessary permission for NOC and fitness certificate.For taking temporary electric connection, permission should be taken from APDCL. Again, NOC from the fire brigade is also a compulsory criterion. Puja Committees should keep fire extinguishers, sand etc ready in case of any emergency. APDCL will issue temporary certificates for electric connection to those committees who will procure permission from the competent authority.

As regards the use of loud speaker, it was stated that as per pollution control guidelines and as per Supreme court’s order,the use of loud speaker is prohibited during 10 PM to 8 AM and noise level of any sound system or a sound producing instrument should not exceed maximum of 65 decibel. It was also stated that music system/D.J system during the time of procession for immersion is also prohibited. This information was provided in an official press release issued by the DIPRO.

The information regarding routes and timing of the procession of idols should be brought to the notice of police well in advance. Chairman Niharendra Narayan Thakur, Chairman, Silchar Municipal Board said that fine should be imposed if any puja committee violates the rules of playing sound system above the permissible decibel limit.

She also mentioned that CCTV cameras should be installed at all the puja pandals and volunteers should be engaged at the gates of the puja pandals for smooth passage of people so that no untoward incident happenedmay take place during rush hours of the puja. There should be separate queue for men and women with display of signboards at the entrance.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Jagadish Das said that the names and the contact numbers of all the puja committee members and volunteers should be furnished well in advance. He also urged upon the puja committees to organise the immersion procession peacefully without creating disturbances to others.

Deputy commissioner Laya Madduri said that single use plastic should be avoided by the puja committees and instead of using plastics they should use eco-friendly biodegradable materials. She also said that the Puja Committees should provide two separate dustbins of red and green colour for disposal of solid and liquid wastes and on payment workers of SLRM center will bring these garbage to the disposal center. In addition to that, As regards award, 2 new categories, named, “zero waste generating pandal” and “no single use plastic pandal” category was introduced for the first time in Silchar and puja committees will be rewarded based on eco-friendly methods adopted by them.