Idol workshop in Delhi stays idle amid Covid fears

NEW DELHI: The workshop in south Delhi’s Chanderlok where Durga idols are created bears a deserted look. With an air of uncertainty surrounding Durga Puja this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, clay artisans who had come to Delhi from West Bengal have no orders in hand and are, therefore, planning to return to their hometowns.
According to the idol makers, the bulk of the orders were normally in by Raksha Bandhan.This year, not a single puja committee has contacted them so far. Manik Pal, who leads the team of artisans from Krishnanagar, isn’t yet in Delhi due to the lockdown in West Bengal. “I received a booking for a small idol a month ago from a Durga Puja organiser, but declined since that wouldn’t cover the expense of my travelling to Delhi and back,” Pal told TOI from his village in Krishnanagar.
The 15 artisan families who used to arrive in Delhi with Pal will not have their usual earnings this year with the puja committees considering only a day-long puja. “We used to get orders for at least 50 idols from across Delhi and that work constituted the bulk of our yearly income,” disclosed Pal. “It will difficult for us this year. Since we go to Delhi every year, setting up workshops in Kolkata and Krishnanagar will be like encroaching on the work of other artisans with fixed customers in these areas.” Pal had already invested some money in raw material for the idols’ ornaments and faces losses.
Subrata Pal, who works at another idol workshop near Shiv Mandir, hasn’t lost hope yet. “I plan to go to Delhi alone and even if I get at least two orders a month before Durga Puja, I will earn something,” he said. The Chanderlok and Shiv Mandir workshops create almost 80% of the Durga idols used by puja committees in Delhi. Subrata added, “If things don’t work out during Durga Puja, I will go to Delhi during the Saraswati Puja in January and set up the workshop in Chittaranjan Park where the demand is high. If these don’t happen, I can’t sustain my family.”
Sadhan Mandal, a traditional drummer from Kanthi in West Bengal’s Midnapore district, who too makes money in Delhi at puja time, has returned to his village. “Leave alone bookings, there isn’t even an enquiry about our availability this year,” Mandal muttered. “Fortunately, I have a farm plot that will help my family keep starvation at bay.”