West Bengal's Durga idol makers stare at Rs 40 crore loss due to COVID-19

The centuries-old artisans' hub Kumartuli in North Kolkata is now wearing a deserted look. Usually, by mid-June, the artisans get confirmed orders for Durga idols from puja committees but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the peak season may never arrive this year. Reeling under the impact of the pandemic, nearly 500 artisans are staring at a loss of nearly Rs 40 crore.

The severity of the loss can be gauged by the fact that last year Kumartuli produced 3500 Durga idols and more than 10,000 idols of Goddess Kali. But this year, there are barely any orders. At least Rs 40 crore of revenue was earned only from selling Durga idols last year.

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“We are just sitting idle with almost no work. It's not Amphan but COVID-19 which ruined us,” said Babu Paul, joint secretary of the Kumartuli Mritshilpi Sanskriti Samiti, the largest artisans’ organisation in the state.

Even as lockdown restrictions have been relaxed with Unlock 1.0, the situation has not improved much for the artisans. Apart from one fibreglass Durga idol being delivered to Australia, a large number of orders from big-ticket Durga Pujas have either got cancelled or are yet to be confirmed.

It is not just the artisans but also about 3,000 skilled and unskilled workers at Kumartuli whose livelihood has been hit by the pandemic. Usually, they start arriving from rural areas of Murshidabad, Nadia, East and West Bardhaman district by mid-February. But this year due to the lockdown, they either failed to make it to the city or decided to stay back in view of the uncertainty.

With daily wages varying from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000 depending on the level of skills, Durga Puja is a major source of income for these workers belonging to the financially weaker section of the society.

The pandemic has also taken a toll on the livelihood of those associated with supplying raw materials such as clay, bamboo and hay. Every year about 60,000 bamboo sticks are supplied to Kumartuli for making the supporting structure of Durga idols from the districts of East and West Bardhaman, Nadia and Murshidabad. Nearly, two lakh bundles of hay also arrive from West Medinipur and North 24 Paraganas district. Large quantities of clay are brought in about more than 1,000 trucks. This year the supply chain has been paralysed by the pandemic.