Sound, light vendors of Barak Valley await Govt's SOP as they fight for survival ahead of Durga Puja

Hardly 45 days to go. Silchar and the Barak Valley as a whole is supposed to glam up the show for the Sarodiya Utsav or more commonly Durga Puja. The time of the year that is awaited by all, has special significance for the different vendors and service providers who help in making the Durga Puja the experience it is known for.

The entire show biz industry being shut for over a year now, the sound and light vendors look up to the Puja season this year as their only chance of recovery that is essential to survive. Last year there was a heavy amount of restriction put in place in view of the Covid-19 which broke the backbone of the entire sound and light industry and though during the time of the Assembly Elections 2021, they did find themselves doing some amount of business, soon the second wave cane to hit the industry like a Tsunami.

Mithu Laskar of Mithu Mike Service states, “There are hundreds of families just in this valley who depend on this industry for their general livelihood and even though a few of them gave up this job and joined a new work, most of them couldn’t find new jobs because of their skills being restricted to this industry only and for most of them being able to feed their families have become a big concern.”

The general secretary of Cachar Sound and Light owner’s association, Bipul Nath who owns Bipul Electric further says, “We have previously tried to reach out to the government through memorandum but till now we haven’t heard back from them or seen much of any help. The forthcoming Durga Puja and the season after it stands out to be especially important for us and everyone in the business and we hope the authorities will take positive steps towards our welfare and survival.”

“The equipment which has been almost unused for over a year now require heavy repairing and most of them are damaged beyond repair. The amount of financial crisis we are facing is immense and even if we want to sell our equipment and gears off, nobody is prepared to even buy them, such is the condition of the industry,” says Laskar.

The owners throughout the entire pandemic have been facing immense costs and have done their best in supporting their people, but they are reaching an exhaustion point from where there is no return. And with no contact from the Puja organizers even as of now, the entire scenario seems very grim and clouded.

Dhan Sahani of D.S. Sound adds “We are taking some amount of risk and preparing ourselves to make the most of the upcoming season and we are hopeful some relaxations will be put in place for our industry too.”

Technically if we see around us today in the post-pandemic period, most of the industries are back to working conditions, even if they aren’t functioning in their full strength. But, the event industry and the various people associated with it live through dark times hoping for their industry to also come under the scope of unlocking which was locked down almost completely in March 2020.

So, how will the Durga Puja 2021 be? Well, hopefully, we will get to know about it more soon from the government nd all celebrations and expectations look up towards the SOP until it comes out. Satyajit Choudhury who is the President of Cachar Sound and Light owner’s association informs us, “Next Sunday we will sit for a general meeting and proceed to the DC office with our suggestions and demands for the upcoming Puja. We hope the authorities too will devise a policy which will keep the covid appropriate behaviour in check and at the same time let the celebrations and the business get back to its track as we continue learning to live in the Post-pandemic world.”