KOLKATA, INDIA, September 14, 2001: Sick and tired of the garbage piling up during the puja and the stench, the Calcutta Municipal Corporation has come with a novel competition scheme for cleanliness among puja pandals where the cleanest puja pandal will be awarded a prize. A “pandal” is a temporary temple set up beside (or in) a roadway for a festival. Different neighborhoods, clubs and companies compete for the biggest and best each year. “This will the best festival as far as neatness and cleanliness are concerned” said Mala Roy, a director of the city’s solid waste management branch. “This award has been designed for the first time in the history of CMC and is a unique effort as the civic body itself will give a ‘best puja’ prize to the cleanest puja organizers to encourage people to maintain cleanliness in the city,” she said. The criteria of judgement will include not only a clean puja venue, but also overall cleanliness of the surrounding areas.
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