West Bengal | The Puja dampener

The 2024 Durga Puja economy in West Bengal faces a downturn due to prolonged protests, rains, and floods, but hopes are high for a recovery in the final days leading up to the festival

ISSUE DATE: Oct 7, 2024

The famed ‘puja spirit’ that takes hold of Bengal each August, rising in a crescendo till the four-day Durga Puja festivities in October and lingering on till Diwali, has been muted this year. Social psychology, naturally, affects business. The state’s puja economy is estimated to have touched Rs 50,000 crore last year, with retail business alone—apparel, footwear, home appliances, furnishing, gadgets, publishing et al—accounting for Rs 33,000 crore. The shopping frenzy these figures signify stands replaced by a wholly uncharacteristic tepidity, born of the sombre mood that has engulfed the state through the prolonged protests over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9. It was this backdrop that led to a wave of indignation when chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked protesters to “return to festivities” on September 9 at a televised meeting. The apathetic, pensive air is most apparent in Kolkata, the hub of spontaneous protests. Sales have been considerably down in each of the three big shopping areas of the city—Gariahat, New Market and Hatibagan—ahead of the October 9-12 Puja calendar. The prevailing mood of introspection that led to a social media and street campaign calling people to curb their festivities has affected the puja economy on which many livelihoods depend.

Rahul Saha, a 40-year-old apparel seller from Gariahat in south Kolkata, has not seen such a lukewarm pre-Durga Puja market since the two pandemic years. Shopkeepers here are usually run off their feet from mid-August, when the puja shopping crush begins in earnest. In the sultry Kolkata afternoon, he sits in his shop crammed with new material, waiting for customers. “During this season, my sales usually touch Rs 5,000 to Rs 7,000 daily. But now I am barely making Rs 3,000,” Saha tells india today.

According to data from the Confederation of West Bengal Trade Associations (CWBTA), an apex body of retailers, business has reduced by 25 to 30 per cent from last year. “There have been multiple contributory factors. The protests are one, but we must take the negative impact of incessant rains and the subsequent floods into account as well,” says Sushil Poddar, president of CWBTA.

While the traditional markets are bearing the brunt of this unprecedented lag in festive cheer, the shopping malls aren’t faring any better. Two large Kolkata malls, Acropolis and South City, confirmed they have taken a hit. The former witnessed a slump of 30 per cent in average footfall on the weekends, the latter has seen a dip of 20 per cent. Both malls have come up with promotional ideas. Subhadip Basu, general manager of Acropolis, has announced a campaign where a shopper can win a trolley bag against shopping for a certain amount. “Though footfall and sales are still lower than 2023, we are seeing a rise in shopping as families are buying eagerly awaited shoes and clothes for children,” says Basu. Dip Biswas, head of operations of South City mall, has a plan too. Like other establishments, South City puts up grand puja décor to attract people. Usually the decorations are completed around Mahalaya—a week before Durga Puja. This year, Biswas plans to start a week earlier.

A silver lining appeared on Sep­­t­­ember 19, when the protesting junior doctors called off their 42-day-long ceasework, leading traders to hope that people would change their minds. In some cases, the upward trend has begun. Ranjan Roy, president of Hatibagan Merchant Welfare Association, says footfalls increased since Sunday, September 15.

The depressed mood had affected the volume of corporate sponsorships on which most big/ medium puja organisers have come to depend. The Forum for Durgotsab, the largest association of puja organisers in Kolkata with over 500 members, has seen around 25 per cent less sponsorships so far, in spite of receiving a massive show of advance interest by advertisers/ sponsors. They, too, are living in hope. “The response in June was so huge that each of us could organise two pujas if that materialised. But the RG Kar incident changed everything,” says Saswata Das, secretary of the forum. But Das, too, affirms that in the past few days the mood has subtly changed and money has started coming in. “All of us stand with the demand for justice. But we hope that by the blessings of the goddess, the economic implications aren’t too harsh,” Das said.

Tens of thousands thronged the city-wide shopping festival that the state government organised in association with the CWBT between September 20 and 24. Everyone feels things will improve vastly in the final run-up to the pujas. It just may not be enough to recover the initial loss in business.