Puja organisers and artisans across the steel city are spending sleepless nights for the last couple of days.

Blame it on Cyclone Titli, which has resulted in heavy showers in several parts of the state.

While most of the 311 Puja committees have already thrown open the pandals to avoid rush of people, others are finding it difficult to complete the installation work.

“We threw open our pandal for visitors from Dwitiya (October 11) so as to avoid rush on the last two days of Puja. We had planned to inaugurate our pandal last (Saturday) evening but it was deferred because of the rains. Now we plan to inaugurate it tomorrow (Saturday),” said Abhay Singh, chief patron of Thakur Pyara Singh Dhurandar Singh Club Puja in Kashidih, one of the crowd-puller pandals.

Installation of arch gates and decoration work of pandals have also been hampered. “The high illuminated welcome gates are the highlight of our Puja but most of the work has been delayed because of the rain.,” said a member of Hume Pipe Sarbojanin Durga Puja Samiti in Bhuiyandih.

Arun Das, an artisan from Hooghly in Bengal, has been roped in by organisers of New Sidhgora Sarbojanin Durga Puja committee to create a pandal inspired from village life. “Overcast skies and frequent bouts of rain is making it difficult for us to give final touches to the clay idols. We are praying for the rains to stop,” added Das.

S.K. Giri, an artisan in Sonari, said the idols had to be dried before applying the first coat of colour. “Today is the third day and we have not been able to carry out work as planned. If the rain doesn’t stop even the pandal decoration work will be hampered,” he said.

According to Met record, Jamshedpur recorded 14mm of rain in the last 24 hours ( till 8.30am on Friday). Another 10mm of rain was recorded between 8.30am and 6pm while intermittent showers continued throughout the day.

Members of Jamshedpur Durga Puja Kendriya Samiti, an umbrella outfit of puja organisers, are keeping their fingers crossed.

“Though idols are almost complete, major illumination and decoration work are

still left. We are keeping a tab of the weather forecast. The cyclone is expected to lose steam by Saturday. Let’s hope for the best,” said Ram Babu Singh, general secretary of the samiti.