Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while inaugurating the Alipore Bodyguard Line Durga Puja on Chaturthi stressed on the close cooperation between the police and people which makes the festival a grand success.
The theme there is empowerment through education.
"The club volunteers work with the police to assist the pandal-hoppers. The cooperation between the volunteers and police makes the Puja a huge success," she said on Wednesday. "The police work throughout the year and it is the responsibility of the state government to look after their families and ensure that they do not face any problem."
Banerjee inaugurated the Durga Puja at Suruchi Sangha organised by state Sports and Youth Affairs minister Aroop Biswas. She also inaugurated the Durga Puja at Alipore Sarbojonin and Kolahal. She also did Chandi Paath and prayed for peace and universal brotherhood.
There were long queues infront of Ekdalia Evergreen, one of the most popular Pujas in South Kolkata, organised by Subrata Mukherjee, the state Panchayats and Rural Development minister.
Mukherjee said: "We stick to the traditional style of Ma Durga and do not follow the current fashion of theme puja. Over the years, the club has earned such goodwill that hundreds of visitors have already visited our pandal on Chaturthi (Wednesday."
The theme in Ekdalia Evergreen is "Save Water Save Life", a slogan given by the state government to conserve water.
People in huge numbers thronged Suruchi Sangha and Chetla Agrani. "On Chaturthi, such footfall is unprecedented," said Swarup Biswas. Pandal-hoppers started visited Tridhara from Wednesday afternoon. The final touches are still being given to the pandal. "It may rain during the Pujas and so we do not want to miss even a moment and hence, we have ventured out," said Swagata Konar, a resident of Rajpur in South 24-Parganas. She, along with her friends, plans to see all the important Pujas in South Kolkata.
The police and volunteers faced a trying time to control the Puja revellers at Sreebhumi.
Badminton player P V Sindhu with her coach Pullela Gopichand inaugurated the Sreebhumi Sporting Club Durga Puja pandal on Wednesday.
Sujit Bose, Minister of State for Fire and Emergency Services, said: "People from the neighbouring districts come to see our pandal. We have made elaborate arrangements so that they can visit the pandal comfortably."