SILCHAR, Oct 29 - Vehicular traffic has been affected in Silchar as people are thronging the main commercial areas of Premtola and Janiganj ahead of the festival of Diwali and Kali Puja.
Known for its fantastic display of lights, the Janiganj Puja committee is all set to celebrate the 46th year of Kali Puja in a grand fashion. Rajkumar Paul, president of the Puja committee said �there will be live demonstration of Sri Ramakrishna, Ma Sarada and Swami Vivekananda during the Kali Puja in their pandal which is made emulating Kolkata�s Belur Math.� Besides huge gates for lighting arrangements outside the Puja pandal, Punjabi, Rajasthani and Gujarati dance shows together with puppet shows are the special attractions this year, Paul informed. Also they have arranged felicitation programme to honour a few veteran members and meritorious students from the char areas here.
Concern for environment has always been the theme during Kali Puja for Club Apostles at Malugram. And in its 28th year, the club has decided to exhibit how birds can be conserved in an open space. Kishan Das, secretary of the club said that birds must not be kept in cages. Hence, their pandal will have bigger nests for the birds. �Birds are being caught and put in the nests to be sold for people to enjoy at homes. But birds are lovely to be seen in open environment and this is what were are trying to come up with, Das maintained.
Meanwhile, there have been incidents of protests particularly from the right wing bodies like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal echoing the nationwide call to boycott use of Chinese lights and other appliances during the festival against China�s alleged support to Pakistan. As a consequence, a major section of the people were seen shifting towards the shops and roadside vendors to buy earthen lamps. Responding to the situation, the traders of the city said that they do not sell Chinese goods. �We do not sell any kind of Chinese firecrackers. It is only the decorative lights and electronic goods which are imported from that country. If the government decides to put a ban on the sale of Chinese goods here, we are ready to follow the decision,� said traders from Janiganj.
On the other hand, the Cachar district administration has deputed magistrates at all important business centres in respective constituencies of the district to keep a watch on the situation and detect Chinese goods. According to sources, only 13 cracker items like starlets, rockets etc., have been licensed for sale and officers have been asked to keep a close eye on the market situation in the city. Police has said that immediate steps will be taken against any incident during Diwali. SP Cachar, Rajveer Singh has said that emergency service team will be put on standby during the festival to avert any untoward incident and the movements of all kinds will be closely monitored.
