Undeterred by rain forecast & docs’ protest, city soaks in spirit of Puja
Kolkata: Despite scattered rainfall in several parts and ongoing junior doctors protest, the city is soaked in the spirit of Bengal’s biggest festival — Durga Puja — as thousands of people thronged Puja pandals on Panchami evening, making sure the record footfall on Chaturthi is broken.
The people of Bengal defied the calls for Dura Puja’s ‘boycott of celebration’ which was trending on social media as a mark of protest against the alleged RG Kar rape and murder case and started pouring in into various Puja pandals from Mahalaya. People were seen in large numbers congregating at Puja pandals in the past two days as well. On ‘Tritiya’, thousands of hoppers stood in queues for long hours at various pandals in the state, including at the popular Sreebhumi Sporting Club, which is known to draw thousands of devotees every year. Apart from Sreebhumi, a huge crowd was found at several Puja pandals on Tuesday evening, including Santosh Mitra Square, Tala Partya in North Kolkata.
Three Puja pandals in Dum Dum Park area — Bharat Chakra, Tarun Sangha Tarun Dal — emerged to be a crowd puller this year also. People in large numbers thronged at Salt Lake AK, BJ, FD block pujas. The traffic cops were seen all pumped up to manage the rush. They managed the rush in all transit points for big-ticket pujas well. Most revellers were more interested in visiting Sreebhumi, Kumartuli-Ahiritola and Bagbazar Sarbojanin among others. Jagat Mukherjee Park at Sovabazar, North Kolkata imparts a feel of travelling in underwater Metro through its theme this year. Metro services from Howrah Maidan to Esplanade have already started and a section of the tracks run underneath the river Hooghly. Plywood is being used predominantly for churning out the idea. The trend was no different in the South. The Jodhpur Park-Selimpur-Babubagan area witnessed a massive rise in footfall, similar to the ones at Ekdalia Evergreen-Hindusthan Park zone within control. Samajsevi Sangha at Lake Road area in South Kolkata is churning out a contrast by pitting ruralisation against the rapid urbanisation in today’s world through its theme ‘Karshan’, meaning use of the plough. Some of the traditional powerhouses — Md Ali Park and College Square — witnessed a moderate crowd. The Puja organisers believe that the rush of crowds will be higher from the day of ‘Sashthi’.
Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore has predicted that scattered rainfall along with occasional thunderstorms may occur in several places across Bengal from the day ‘Sasthi’ (Wednesday) till ‘Navami’. However, there is no prediction of heavy rainfall yet.
“On ‘Sasthi’ and ‘Saptami’, several districts will receive light to moderate rainfall. There is a possibility of thunderstorms as well. On Ashatami-Navami (October 11), the districts like North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore, West Midnapore may receive rainfall. Kolkata may remain partially cloudy on ‘Saptami’. The city’s temperature is likely to hover between 26-33 degree Celsius. “Kolkata may receive light rainfall on Ashtami-Navami,” a weather official said.
