Kolkata:

A laser light show at a Kolkata Durga Puja pandal modelled on Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was stopped today after the pandal started drawing huge crowds.

While there were reports that the laser lights were turned off after complaints from pilots operating flights at the nearby Kolkata international airport, airport sources NDTV spoke to said they were not aware of any official complaint on this.

Sreebhumi Sporting Club, organisers of the Puja, denied that there had been complaints and said they switched off the laser strobe lights to prevent overcrowding. Currently, only still lights are on at the pandal in the Lake Town area of the city.

The 145-feet pandal modelled on the world’s tallest building was built using about 6,000 acrylic sheets. It had been drawing crowds in tens and thousands, leading to frequent traffic jams in the area.

State fire minister Sujit Bose, who is on the Puja’s organising committee, had earlier said they model their pandal on an iconic building every year.

“Last year, we built a replica of the Kedarnath Temple. This year our artist suggested Burj Khalifa. We sent him to Dubai to get every detail of the structure,” he had said, adding that Covid parameters laid down by the state government had been followed while building it.