On 12th March, an official said that the West Bengal government has prohibited Holi festivities in Sonajhuri Haat in the Birbhum district of Santiniketan this year due to possible harm to the local greeneries. The well-known bazaar is close to the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage site of Visva Bharati University’s Santiniketan campus.
Several banners have been placed in the area asking people, both domestic and foreign tourists, not to park their cars there or celebrate the festival of colors, according to Bolpur Divisional Forest Officer Rahul Kumar. He added that visitors were asked not to record the Holi celebrations on camera. “The department will seek support of police and administration to enforce the ban but will also leave it to people for the better sense to prevail,” he conveyed.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari reacted to the development and referred to the political agenda of appeasement of the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC/TMC). He said, “This has not happened in just one area. Police conduct coordination programs at the time of programs of other communities. We saw this happening during CPIM (Communist Party of India-Marxist) and TMC regimes. But in 2025, for the first time, meetings were held at every police station for Holi. What was the issue in the meeting, this is a special month for the other community and this time Holi is falling on a Friday (Jumma).”
“So, it was openly said that colours should not be used and Holi should be celebrated. There will be arrests if someone does something. Birbhum Additional SP (Superintendent of Police) said that by 10 am, the Holi celebrations in Santiniketan should be wrapped up because it is Friday. This is happening in Bengal for the first time. Mamata Banerjee’s Police administration is doing politics of divides, it is doing politics of appeasement,” he pointed out.
#WATCH | On West Bengal govt reportedly imposing a ban on Holi celebrations in Santiniketan Sonajhuri Haat to preserve greenery, West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari says, "This has not happened in just one area. Police conduct coordination programs at the time of programs of other… pic.twitter.com/9wsMv3Yg96
— ANI (@ANI) March 12, 2025
According to a spokesman for the central university Visva Bharati, its UNESCO heritage designation prevents the campus from being opened to thousands of people during Holi. “We are not issuing any diktat and people in large groups will be prevented from walking to the Sonajhuri Khowai belt on 14th March, the day of Dol Yatra,” the DFO claimed. He further added, “What we want to avert is the assembling of thousands of people during the festival of colours in an area where there is a green cover. The sprinkling of coloured water may cause irreparable damage to trees. Let us take the pledge to save Sonajhuri from any ecological damage on 14th March.”
Visva Bharati had ceased public participation in ‘Basanto Utsav’ (spring festival) after 2019, and this is the first time the forest department has prohibited the Holi celebrations at Sonajhuri Haat, which had become a popular venue for lakhs of people during the festival. “We are not opening the varsity campus (to all) for the ‘Basanto Utsav’ because of the UNESCO World Heritage status. Opening it up for all would mean accommodating more than 5,00,000 people within the ashrama, which Visva-Bharati cannot manage in terms of infrastructure and logistics,” the university spokesperson stated.
