Round-the-clock power and water supplies along with an alert control room of fire brigade will be in place in Cuttack city for the five-day Durga puja beginning on October 20 with Maha Saptami. This was decided by a high-level Dussehra meeting of the district administration here on Saturday under the chairmanship of district Collector Nirmal Chandra Mishra.
It was also decided that the all-important immersion festival of the Durga Puja would be held on October 24.
In view of the Puja, the local civic body was asked to complete the ongoing JICA project works by October 15. The civic body is currently repairing the roads and fixing the streetlights in every lane and by-lane. “Rs 2 crore for roads and Rs 50 lakh for lights each have been allotted to all the 59 wards of the civic body,” informed Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) Executive Officer Gyana Ranjan Das.
“All wards will get 24 hours water supply and power supply during the puja,” informed the Collector, adding that the control room of the fire brigade would remain alert round-the-clock on these days. The Puja Committees have been asked to erect their pandals in such a way that the fire tenders could reach them without any difficulty.
Former city Mayor and BJP leader Nibedita Pradhan attending the meeting suggested to the district administration to ensure that all liquor shops in the city are closed during the Puja from October 19 to October 24. Her suggestion, however, received a lukewarm response at the meeting.