75 Durga idols to take part in Carnival

Kolkata: Come Friday and Kolkatans will be able to experience the fourth edition of the grand Durga Puja Carnival to be held on Red Road.

The Alipore Meteorological office has predicted a clear day on Friday which has brought in much relief to the organisers who will take part in the extravaganza and those who have planned to attend it.

The state government has invited Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and his spouse Sudesh for the Carnival. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with her council of ministers and senior officials of the state government will be present at the show. At least 1,500 officials from different Consulates have been invited to join the gala event. The state government has distributed cards among 20,000 people who would watch it. It has been Banerjee's sincere attempt to make Durga Puja, one of the most colourful festivals in India, a global one.

The state Tourism department will bring in 150 foreign delegates including journalists and artists from different countries to the Carnival, the biggest event in Bengal. Nine giant screens have been installed to facilitate the people present there to have a clear view.

Hectic work is on to give the two stages — titled Ranga Matir Desh — the final shape. The stages have been decorated with terracotta work of Bankura and Bishnupur. The whole show will be telecast on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's Facebook page.

Around 75 Durga Puja committees that have bagged the 'Biswa Bangla Sharad Samman 2019,' instituted by the state government under 11 categories, will take part in the Carnival. They have been asked to bring three tableaus at the most and the cultural show they are going to present before the audience will have to be of three minutes.

Four major Durga Pujas — Sreebhumi Sporting Club, Ekdalia Evergreen, Suruchi Sangha and Chetla Agrani conducted by four ministers — Sujit Bose, Minister of State for Fire and Emergency Services; Subrata Mukherjee, minister for Panchayats and Rural Development department; Aroop Biswas, minister for Sports and Youth Services and Firhad Hakim, minister for Urban Development and Municipal Affairs will take part in the event.

The security arrangements around Red Road have been beefed up. Traffic movements along the stretch will be suspended from midnight. The Puja committees have already started placing their vehicles earmarked for them. Nine LED lights have been installed near the two stages.

The Durga Puja which began on September 27 with the inauguration of a few community Pujas by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will come to a closure with the Carnival. The idols will be immersed at different ghats along river Hooghly. The ghats have been brightly illuminated and senior civic officials along with their counterparts in the city police have conducted elaborate inspections.