Kolkata’s Durga Puja runs on light: the chandelier-heavy pandals of Sreebhumi and Santosh Mitra Square, the kilometre-long LED gates along Southern Avenue, the string lights on every para lane. This year the state expects that glow to draw more electricity than any Puja before it, and the Power Department has spent the past week lining up generators, coal, transmission lines and repair crews to make sure the grid holds. Minister of State for Power Gargi Das Ghosh chaired a preparatory meeting with the state’s generation, transmission and distribution agencies and set a simple target: uninterrupted supply from Mahalaya on 10 October right through to Kojagari Lakshmi Puja on 25 October. Here is what was decided, why demand is climbing, and the helpline numbers every Kolkata household and puja committee should keep handy.
Why Demand Is Set to Hit a Record
Two things are pushing the numbers up. First, there are simply more pujas. The state estimates that the number of community Durga Pujas will cross 65,000 this year, and WBSEDCL, which supplies most of Bengal outside Kolkata and Howrah, expects around 60,000 puja committees to apply for temporary connections, up from roughly 57,000 in 2025. Second, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced that puja pandals will receive electricity free of charge this year. Last year’s 80 per cent discount on pandal connections cost the exchequer somewhere between Rs 28 crore and Rs 30 crore; a full waiver removes the last incentive committees had to keep their lighting loads modest.
Officials have shared two forecasts with the press. The Power Department’s working estimate is that peak demand during the festive window will cross 12,000 MW, against a little under 10,000 MW during Durga Puja 2025. A higher projection, reported after the review meeting, puts the peak above 14,000 MW on Tritiya, which falls on Tuesday 13 October, the evening when most big pandals will have opened and the pre-Puja weekday crowds begin. Either way, the state is planning for a load it has not seen during a festival before.
What the Power Department Has Lined Up
The review pulled several central and state agencies under one plan. Coal India’s subsidiaries have been asked to keep extra coal stocked for Bengal’s thermal plants, and Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway have been requested to prioritise coal rakes to those plants through the festival. On the transmission side, Power Grid Corporation of India and WBSETCL, the state transmission utility, have committed to keeping lines free of planned outages. The three distribution companies, WBSEDCL, CESC and IPCL, have been told plainly that neither pandals nor households should face disruption during the festive days.
Two operational numbers stand out. Around 3,500 mobile maintenance vans will be on standby across the state, day and night, so that a tripped transformer or a snapped line can be attended to within minutes rather than hours. And WBSEDCL, according to its Chairman and Managing Director Santanu Basu, will buy about 15 per cent of its festival requirement directly from the power market, a buffer against any shortfall from its own contracted generation.
Helpline Numbers for Kolkata and the Districts
Kolkata proper and most of Howrah are served by CESC, while Salt Lake, New Town, Rajarhat, the northern and southern suburbs and the rest of Bengal fall under WBSEDCL. Check which utility bills you before you dial. The numbers below are the 24×7 lines announced for the festival period.
- CESC (Kolkata and Howrah): 9831079666 and 9831083700, plus the round-the-clock toll-free line 1912.
- WBSEDCL (rest of Bengal, including Salt Lake, New Town and the suburbs): special control room at Bidyut Bhavan on 8100713503 and 8100713504, supervised directly by the Director (Distribution), Executive Director (Distribution) and Chief Engineer (Distribution, South). Toll-free complaints go to 19121.
- IPCL (Asansol industrial belt): 1800-1023-783 and 19123.
What It Means for Puja Committees
Free electricity does not mean unlimited electricity. The Power Department has specifically asked committees to keep consumption within the load they declare when applying for the temporary connection, both to keep the local transformer within limits and to avoid the kind of overheating and short circuits that have caused pandal fires in past years. In Kolkata, CESC’s temporary connection window for pujas typically closes a couple of weeks before Panchami, and committees that apply late are the ones most likely to end up on an overloaded feeder. If your para committee has expanded its lighting or added a bigger sound system this year, the safest course is to re-declare the load rather than quietly exceed it. Our Durga Puja 2026 dates guide has the full day-by-day calendar for planning connection dates around Mahalaya, Panchami and the immersion days.
Electrical Safety Tips for Pandal Hopping and at Home
- Keep children away from temporary cable runs, junction boxes and the metal frames of lighting gates, especially if it has rained; mid-October evening showers are common in Kolkata.
- If you see sparking, a burning smell or a hot cable at a pandal, tell the volunteers immediately and call the relevant helpline rather than assuming someone else has.
- Do not touch fallen wires on waterlogged roads after a storm; report them to CESC or WBSEDCL and to the local police station.
- At home, avoid running the AC, geyser and microwave on the same circuit during peak evening hours (7 pm to 11 pm) on the main Puja days, when neighbourhood transformers are under the most stress.
- Keep a charged power bank and a torch ready from Saptami to Navami; even a well-prepared grid can trip locally for a few minutes.
- Committees should have an earth-leakage circuit breaker (ELCB) on the temporary board and a fire extinguisher near the main switch, as Kolkata Police’s pandal clearance guidelines already require.
FAQs
Is electricity really free for Durga Puja pandals in 2026?
Yes. The Chief Minister has announced free electricity supply to puja pandals this year, replacing the 80 per cent discount offered in 2025. Committees still need to apply for a temporary connection and stay within the declared load.
How much power will Bengal need during Durga Puja 2026?
The Power Department expects peak demand to cross 12,000 MW, compared with just under 10,000 MW last Puja. One projection shared after the review meeting puts the Tritiya (13 October) peak above 14,000 MW.
Which helpline should I call if there is a power cut in Kolkata during Puja?
If CESC bills you (most of Kolkata and Howrah), call 9831079666, 9831083700 or the toll-free 1912. If WBSEDCL bills you (Salt Lake, New Town, the suburbs and the districts), call 8100713503, 8100713504 or the toll-free 19121.
From when to when is the special arrangement in force?
Utilities have been told to maintain 24×7 reliable supply from Mahalaya on 10 October to Lakshmi Puja on 25 October, with about 3,500 mobile maintenance vans deployed across the state.
Why are more pujas expected this year?
The state estimates community pujas will exceed 65,000 in 2026, and WBSEDCL alone expects around 60,000 temporary connection applications, up from about 57,000 last year. The free-electricity announcement is expected to add to the numbers.
The Bottom Line
Bengal is going into Durga Puja 2026 with more pandals, free power and a demand forecast well above anything the grid has carried during a festival, and the Power Department says it has the coal, the transmission capacity and 3,500 repair vans to match. For Kolkata residents the practical takeaway is short: save the CESC or WBSEDCL number that applies to your address, and if you sit on a puja committee, keep your lighting within the load you declared. KolkataDekho will update this piece if the utilities publish further advisories closer to Mahalaya.
Sources: West Bengal Power Department review meeting chaired by Minister of State Gargi Das Ghosh, with helpline numbers as announced by WBSEDCL, CESC and IPCL; cross-checked against reporting by Millennium Post, Sangbad Pratidin and The Wall.
Featured image: A themed Durga Puja pandal lit up at night in Kolkata, photo by Rashni Parichha on Unsplash.
