By Shrabana Chatterjee

Copyright thehindu

Durga Puja is the biggest festival in West Bengal where every pandal gets lakhs of visitors every single day. However, the festival also causes accessibility issues for many, including persons with disability, children, and women. This year, multiple pujas across the city have come up with several accessibility plans to makes the pandals more inclusive.

Many Durga Pujas have started ramps for wheelchairs, braille display, guided tours for persons with disability, and women specific gates for added security in the overflowing crowd.

India Autism Center, in collaboration with massArt, gave around 450 autistic individuals a tour of 24 pandals from September 18 to 22 before the overwhelming crowds and long queues started forming outside the pandals.

They were taken to some of the city’s most popular pandals like Hatibagan Sarbojanin, Kashi Bose Lane, Hindustan Park, Tridhara Akalbodhon, Barisha Club, 41 Pally, Chaltabagan, and Naktala Udayan Sangha. They all have been adapted with ramps, accessible washrooms, and made disability friendly based on UNESCO guidelines. They also had language interpretation, and audio formats to accommodate various special needs, including those of older citizens.

Eveready started an initiative and partnered with Vikramshila Education Resource Society to support a Durga Puja organised by underprivileged children with an ‘Ultima Bahon’ and sponsored their whole puja. The Ultima Bahon is an AA battery-powered remote-controlled toy truck which will carry the idol of Goddess Durga into the Puja premises.

“While we all marvel at the grandeur of Kolkata’s biggest pandals, we often forget the smaller ones that carry equal devotion but fewer resources. With Ultima Bahon, we wanted to bring smiles to these children and give them a story they can cherish forever,” Anirban Banerjee, CEO, Eveready Industries India Ltd told The Hindu.

Mr Banerjee said that they have also started an initiative to have a special women-only entry gate or Shurokkha Dwar (The Gate of Safety) at some pandals across the city to ensure safety of women in the overflowing crowd. This comes as a move when many women have raised alarm over harassment issues inside pandals due to the lakhs of visitors crowding the areas.

Multiple awards have also cropped up across the State which are recognising inclusivity and accessibility in Durga Puja pandals in the city.

Forum for Durgotsab — the umbrella organisation of community Durga Puja committees in the city along with National Institute of Professionals, an NGO have organised an award for Durga Pujas which are differently abled and senior citizen friendly. More than 250 pujas are set to participate in it.

SilverGenie, an elder care management organisation has also started their own Most Inclusive award ceremony for Durga Pujas which are senior citizen friendly.

“We have taken 35 senior citizens around different pandals across the city. The three most accessible pujas will be given the award. Our senior citizens will be the jury because they understand the experience best,” Poulomi Bhattacharya, CEO, SilverGenie Pvt Ltd said.

However, there remains many Durga Puja pandals which are not accessible for senior citizens, children, or differently abled people. As lakhs of people flock to the pandals during the 5-day autumn festival where surge and queues stretch for hours, the lack of accessibility often turns celebration into a struggle for many.

“Back when we were young Durga Pujas was not such a madness. We could offer our prayers to Maa Durga in peace and not be trampled in the crowd. Now I see the pujas on the television, I do not dare visit pandals in this crowd,” Jharna Chatterjee, an 86-year-old lady said. She added that the fear of getting pushed around in the crowd surge keeps her from visiting any pandals.