Many stayed away from festivities this year given the general despondency over the RG Kar incident yet there was no dearth of footfall at the pandals. Here is a round-up of the pujas that drew the biggest crowds, according to police estimates.

1. Newtown Sarbojanin

In its third year, the biggest puja in the neighbourhood, with a Rs 1.8 crore budget and Sudraka’s classic Sanskrit play Mrichchakatik as theme, has drawn a significant crowd despite there being no other big pujas in the immediate vicinity. But there was no repeat of last year’s scene in which ropes were used to control the flow of entrants on the road. Visitors walked in, in a steady stream, and, thanks to the wide passage, fanned out before walking up a ramp or the stairs. “We had to use the rope to stagger the crowd only for an hour or so in the peak evening hours on the Puja nights,” said secretary Samaresh Das. He pointed out that the pandal had enough open space and the idol too was placed in a spot that allowed 360° view. “The idol’s face could be seen standing anywhere in 70 per cent area around the circular stage. So people were not concentrated in front,” he added. There were about 30 private security guards and an equal number of volunteers.

Of them, some were deployed whenever an alert came from the guards at the entry gate seeking a wheelchair, of which there were six. So smooth was the crowd flow that The Telegraph Salt Lake spotted two visitors in wheelchairs reaching right up to the front to take a look.

Organisers expressed satisfaction with the crowd-control measures of the police. “They made us widen the exit gate towards the pedestrian-only street by four feet on Panchami. A watch tower was built but was not needed,” Das said.

2. AK Block

Bhabatosh Sutar’s understated pandal at AK Block stole the show with its theme of water conservation resonating with the large crowds.

“We come to the 206 route bus stand every year and visit AJ, BJ, and AK Block pandals,” said Hirak Saha, who had come with his wife and son from Baguiati on Navami. “We were discussing the same in the auto today, but a fellow passenger interrupted us, saying that AJ and BJ weren’t as impressive this time, but that AK was unmissable. So we’ve come to AK first. It’s marvellous!”

The police and other forces were managing the crowd with ropes, releasing visitors in sections all evening till 3am. Inside, people jostled for a glimpse of the now-famous buckets, but the symphony created with raindrops was drowned out by the din of the visitors. In the sanctum sanctorum, most couldn’t see the idols either, as they were represented in paintings placed lower than eye level.

Beyond the exit, visitors landed in the stall section with food and other items on sale. Just beyond that was Roy Medical, an AK Block pharmacy that did brisk business selling water, tetra packs of ORS, and adhesive bandages. “Pandal-hoppers come in new shoes, which often give them blisters, so they need adhesive bandages. We’ve already sold four boxes. As for water, we’re selling over 150 bottles a day,” said attendant Hriday Saha. “And that’s despite shutting shop at 10.30pm.”

“Our puja’s message was clear, and our approach innovative,” said block and puja secretary Aritra Ranjan Sen. “People loved the work of theme-maker Bhabatosh Sutar, especially the live music created by raindrops. It was engineered by instrumental science students from Jadavpur University, using 1,500 water nozzles.”

Sen admits that sponsors initially feared interest in the Pujas might wane after the RG Kar incident, but that footfall was intact. “We had four lakh visitors a day since Panchami,” he said.

“If last year’s craze in Salt Lake was BJ Block, it is AK this year. It took a bit of time for word to spread and from Panchami, we could see the effect. We stopped entry of vehicles from Tank 9 and Kathgola island. Parking was done on the canalside road in adjacent blocks,” said a police officer.

Visitors enjoy the symphony of raindrops orchestrated at AK Block

3. FD Block

“Pandal hopping is not complete till one visits FD puja,” giggled a bunch of teenagers who had come from Madhyamgram. “We loved how water poured out of Shib thakur’s hair to form the Ganga underneath.”

With police stopping visitors’ cars into the block, rickshaw drivers had created a route simply between the edges of the block to the mouth of the puja queue. “The distance is just a few hundred meters but weary visitors, and especially the aged, are opting for the ride,” said a rickshaw asking not be named as he knew he was overcharging. “The rate is Rs 50 per couple from the GC Block side but then this is the time to make hay.”

Ice cream-seller Panchuram Roy is lucky to make Rs 1,500 on regular days but the crowd was so robust outside the FD puja that he made Rs 10,000 per evening.

At the Craft Coffee eatery outside the pandal, there were queues all evening. “In fact, some visitors are writing their names on the waiting list while entering the pandal and coming to eat after seeing the puja,” said Rajib Dawn, who was maintaining the waiting list outside.

“Crowds thronged as always but the spirit of merriment was less this year due to the RG Kar issue,” said puja secretary Shiladitya Roy Chowdhury. “The rain did pose a challenge but we made platforms and pathways to avoid the muck in the field. This is something other blocks hadn’t considered and we got some of their crowds. Between 8pm and 11pm, we got about 3,000 visitors a minute. Post- dinner, footfall peaked again between 1am and 3.30am.”

People throng the Ganga ghat portrayed at the FD Block puja Brinda Sarkar

4.BJ BLOCK

The Navami evening crowd at BJ Block swelled such that visitors had to be diverted through the block’s lanes to prevent congestion before the pandal. In previous years, however, the police would also have to hold up ropes to keep pedestrians from spilling onto the road between AJ and BJ Blocks.

This year, the police ranked AJ Block sixth in terms of crowd count in the Salt Lake-New Town area. “We’ve been diverting the crowd through the block from 5pm to 1am daily, but we make exceptions for elderly visitors, allowing them direct entry,” explained Somnath Mondal, a resident volunteer. The pandal featured a 40-foot Buddha lit up by beams of light. “Last year, I missed the laser lights at this puja as the police had shut it due to excessive crowd. This time, the puja is again beautiful, but the constant whistling from the guards made me leave the pandal quickly. I couldn’t admire the idols as long as I wanted to,” said Sangita Maiti, who has come with her family from Sithi More. The play area and food court attached to the pandal bustled throughout the night. “We’re a start-up that launched on Chaturthi at the exit gate of BJ Block,” said Rishav Jana of Mr. J’s food truck. “I live in AD Block and was aware of BJ puja’s popularity, but we’re overwhelmed by the footfall. We’ve sold hundreds of hotdogs alone. It couldn’t have been a better start.” “Pandal-hoppers often ask us to take them to attractive pujas, and the 206 bus stand is a sure winner every time as they can see AJ, BJ and AK pujas,” said Amar Mondal, a rickshaw driver waiting for his passengers to return from the BJ puja. “AJ puja isn’t as elaborate this year but BJ has lived up to its reputation, and my passengers are pleased.” Puja secretary Arghya Pramanik said that this year the police requested them to add an additional exit from the block. “For the first four days, the only exit was on the ICICI Bank side, facing BK Block, but the crowd was overflowing, so we were asked to use the entrance from AJ Block as well and split the entry and exit there in a 60:40 ratio. Buses were also stopped from travelling between Tank 8 and Baisakhi to make space for vehicles to park on the main road.” For the first time, outsiders’ cars were prevented from entering BJ Block. “This has been a long-standing issue, as pandal-hoppers park their cars blocking residents’ gates. In case of an emergency, even ambulances cannot access the driveways. So we discussed the matter with the police, and they agreed to our request,” Pramanik said.

5. IB BLOCK

Bursting into the top five list for the first time is IB Block. With its vision of Calcutta in 2050, the pandal featured skyscrapers, a bullet train, air ambulance and Rs 15 crore worth jewellery on the Pradip Rudrapal idols.

I absolutely loved IB Block,” grinned Samrat De, a cycle van driver who traded his usual cargo for pandal-hoppers during the festival. “So much gold on the goddess! Hebby chhilo. This is their first year in the big league, so their branding is yet to build. By next year, everyone will be talking about IB Block.”

Sudipto Mukherjee, the IB Block puja co-ordinator, expressed pride in their achievement. “In our 38th year, it’s commendable how we joined the ranks of the biggest pujas. We even made it to the Red Road carnival.”

The crowd, he said, exceeded their expectations, but they weren’t entirely satisfied with the pandal’s execution. “The vendors let us down. The revolving floors of our skyscrapers and the mini helicopters and drones didn’t fly as much as we had hoped,” said Mukherjee

The crowd was managed by a team of 80 resident volunteers, 60 handymen, 45 private security guards in the evening, 15 in the morning, and at least 120 police and civic police volunteers in the evenings

Organisers are already looking ahead to next year. “We’ll hold a meeting to discuss plans for our next puja immediately after Jagadhatri puja and seal sponsorship deals in January itself,” said Mukherjee. “Waiting till September proved risky as this year, due to the RG Kar issue, sponsors doubted footfall and tried to back out,” Mukherjee said.