Durga Puja artists of Kumartuli worried over crackdown on thermocol use and looming deadlines 

With the cultivation of wood sponge (shola) dwindling and single use thermocol (polystyrene) being banned, the idol makers of Kumartuli, the potter’s colony in Kolkata, are struggling to find alternatives to decorate the idols ahead of Durga Puja this season. 

As a measure to crackdown on thermocol, Kolkata Police conducted raids at the potter colony, leaving many worried about meeting deadlines of completing the Idols with Puja deadlines looming and customers waiting. 

“The detailed decorations and ornaments we can make for goddess Durga with this thermocol are not possible with any other material. Most other things are expensive and difficult to process. All artists have already invested lakhs in buying thermocol, how will we cope with only two weeks left for the pujas?” Kamal Paul, a generational artist at Kumartuli who works to make ornaments and decorations for Durga idols told The Hindu. As Kamal gives some finishing touches to one of the crowns he fashions out of thermocol and colourful plastic pieces, he asks if thermocol is used for packing large parcels, then why small artists like them have to bear the burden of the ban. 

Traditionally, these decorations were made with shola, a wood sponge variety mostly available in eastern India which was used to make delicate ornaments and pandal decorations during pujas and weddings. But this is only found in trees that are now rare due to lack of cultivation and artists who can work with the delicate shola pieces have also dwindled over the years, leaving the once-flourishing craft on the verge of disappearance. 

“They should help us find alternatives and have a concrete plan before they ban thermocol. We are poor artists, how will we find alternatives? This needs to be researched and studied. Forced ban on the 11^th hour will not help,” another artist said wishing to stay anonymous. 

As a stopgap arrangement, the Kumartuli Mrit Shilpi Samiti (Association of potters and artists) have written to the local MLA Sashi Panja to let them use thermocol for the decorations this year until they can find an alternative. They urged that if police raid their premises against the thermocol ban then they will have to live under constant fear and finishing the deadlines would become impossible. 

The artists have been facing this crisis since 2022, when West Bengal Pollution Control Board called for a complete ban on usage of thermocol. Each year the artists of Kumartuli negotiate with local leaders to continue their work, but they fear that this cannot be a long-term solution. 

“I understand the environmental concern. I have read about the harmful effects of thermocol. But as artists with very few resources, what other alternative do we have? Metal or cloth will not make appropriate or affordable replacements,” Bankim Paul, one of the most senior potters in Kumartuli said. 

Mr Bankim added that almost 20-30% of the idol is made with thermocol, and to stop using it overnight is a huge concern for them. For the artists of Kumartuli, they now stand at the crossroads of environmental concerns and their cultural livelihood with no alternatives in sight.