Environment department guidelines for organizers

KOLKATA: The environment department has laid down guidelines for puja committees to create an environment-friendly atmosphere in and around pandals. Puja committees abiding by the guidelines properly will be awarded the Sherader Shera Nirmal Puja Puroshkar, 2010.
Biswajit Mukherjee, the environment department's law officer, said this year's guidelines are more detailed and cover aspects like social responsibility, environment, safety, legality and aesthetics.
The department will check whether an idol has lead-free colour, the pandal is made of environment-friendly material and microphones emit noise within the stipulated decibel level. Puja committees have been instructed to prevent the use of plastic carrybags inside pandals and in surrounding stalls, avoid tampering with greenery or use trees for lighting, have provisions for public toilets, consume as less power as possible.
Next on the priority list is social responsibility. This includes restoration of waterbodies, planting trees, environment-related competitions and contribution towards the locality.
The safety aspects include having proper entry and exit points with a proper crowd management system, traffic management around the pandal to prevent snarls, fire extinguishers with trained personnel and use of incombustible chemicals, having first-aid boxes and display of emergency numbers.