Sea of crowd in Kolkata streets as residents throng for final gala; many idols to be immersed today

Kolkata: All corners of Kolkata city witnessed a sea of crowds on Tuesday evening and Wednesday as thousands of people stepped out to celebrate the Durga Puja on its final day. Though the Durga pandals, other festival locations and commercial areas have been witnessing heavy footfall since the beginning of Navratri, today saw a flood of people. In some stretches, people were unable to step forward as it was jam-packed.

Prominent Durga locations such as Tridhara Samillani pandal in Dover Terrace, Suruchi Sangha in New Alipore and Rashbehari crossing recorded heavy rush on Tuesday evening and Wednesday despite the spell of rain. The streets of Kolkata are expected to see more rush by the evening as many of the Durga idols will be taken out for immersion today.

The city police have made elaborate arrangements for the immersion of idols. Around sixteen ghats along the Hooghly River and several other water bodies have been prepared for immersion. Police expect that a good number of idols will be immersed on Wednesday as some people prefer not to perform the ritual on Thursday. Immersion of idols has to be completed by Saturday. A Durga Puja immersion parade will be held on Red Road on the final day.

Many of the city residents prefer to immerse the household idols on Wednesday itself as private offices will start functioning from Thursday. As per the size and budget of idols, the immersions will take place on the subsequent days. The costliest and most popular idols will wait for the immersion parade on the last day of immersion.

The Baje Kadamtala Ghat, which falls on the road headed towards Hooghly from Eden Gardens, is a key spot for idol immersion where the maximum number of rituals take place. Besides it, Ahiritola Ghat, Nimtala Ghat, Sovabazar Ghat and PK Tagore Ghat among several other locations will see idol immersions in large numbers. Beadon Street and Nimtala Ghat Street, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Road and Asutosh Mukherjee Road have been identified as immersion corridors by the city police.