Pandal, Durga idol burnt to ashes in Salt Lake

Kolkata: Hours before immersion, the Durga idols and the entire pandal at FD Block in Salt Lake were burnt to ashes in an early-morning fire on Wednesday. While a section of the organising committee hinted at sabotage, police and fire officers said an electrical short circuit might have led to the blaze. No one was, however, injured.
State fire minister and local MLA Sujit Bose, who reached the spot and oversaw a team of state forensic sciences officials collect samples from the debris, said a detailed enquiry would be conducted to find out the reason.“We will conduct an inquiry to find out how the fire had started,” said Bose.
The FD Block Sarbojonin Durgotsav Committee, which is celebrating its 36th year, decorated the pandal, inspired by The Jungle Book. While the Durga idol was kept inside a 3,000 sq-ft cave-like structure, a jungle, along with characters from the book, was recreated on the 2-acre FD Block park. Though the pandal and the idols were destroyed, two fire engines doused the flames before the rest of the park was affected.
The fire was spotted around 6am by some residents of the area, dhakis and security guards outside the mandap. “Three of us had come out of the pandal to have tea from a nearby stall, when we saw the flames from a distance. We rushed towards the pandal and alerted the guards, who called the organisers. We poured buckets of water but within minutes, the entire pandal was ablaze and we had to move away,” said Bikas Ruidas, a dhaki.
The loud noise of electrical equipment and other materials exploding woke up the residents living around FD park who witnessed the horror of the leaping flames engulfing the pandal from their windows and balconies. “It was a heart-rending sight and felt like somebody very close was dying a painful death. I felt helpless as I could not help. I just kept alerting puja organisers and called the fire department,” said Tapan Roy of FD 61.
A section of organisers said foul play was behind the incident and blamed an internal feud. “A section of organisers had been against us holding the puja peacefully. I feel there has been some sabotage. There has been no negligence on our part. Even the CCTV footage shows the fire started from a corner of the pandal entrance, where there was no live electrical line, which could have led to a short circuit,” said Banibrata Banerjee, president, puja committee.
However, Block committee members said there could always be a difference in opinion but nobody could have set the pandal, along with the idol, on fire. “There is nobody who can have such mentality or intention to commit such a crime,” said former FD block puja committee president Pradip Sengupta.
State forensic sciences officials, who collected samples, idols and the burnt meter box, said they needed to test them before drawing a conclusion. “The pandal has been so severely burnt that it is impossible to locate the cause and seat of fire at this moment. We will run a series of tests to come to a conclusion,” said S K Saha, a senior forensic sciences official.
(with inputs from Suman Chakraborti)