The pandal was beautiful and the waterbody was the icing on the cake. But such is the threat of dengue this season that visitors couldn’t help but worry if it was breeding mosquitoes.
Three pujas in Salt Lake had built water bodies this year but all the organisers said dengue was the first thing on their mind when the artiste suggested water.
“Our theme was Manasamangal Kavya and our pandal was, in fact, atop a boat. To highlight the boat we had to place it on water, and that turned out to be our USP,” said Nirmalya Majumdar, assistant secretary of AB Block.
While most visitors went on clicking sprees in front of the water, Majumdar encountered one pandal-hopper who asked if the water was safe from the pests. “We assured him that we had released guppies to eat up larvae. We also used a pump intermittently to keep the water circulating,” said Majumdar, adding that there hadn’t been any dengue cases in the block this season.
A crocodile replica basks in the sun from a pool at CE Block's pandal
At GD Block too, the waterbody was the centre of attention. The pond of about 8ft in diameter had visitors clicking pictures, peeping in and even throwing coins for good luck. “I stood next to the pond for long to click pictures but luckily no mosquito bit me,” said Tanusmita Chakraborty, who had come down for the Pujas from Delhi. “This is a large block and I’m sure they’ve taken precautions.”
Visitors click the reflection of the woman's face on the water in GD Block
Indeed they had. “We are a socially responsible block,” said vice president Gouranga Modak. “We have a resident-doctor on standby, a bed for the infirm, a nursing room, toilets and even a fire brigade stall. So dengue prevention was the first thing on our mind when we decided to have a pond. We have released guppies in the water. The block and the ward are also sprinkling bleaching powder daily.”
The CE Block pandal had tigers, crocodiles, deer but — if the organsiers are to be believed — no mosquitoes! The theme was to “save the Sundarbans” and alongside mangroves, small waterbodies were created with replicas of crocodiles sunbathing in them.
“We haven’t released guppies as they dirty the water. We have used other small fish that eat larvae,” said CE Block president Debashis Sen. “We are also adding fresh water every day to replace the volume that gets evaporated and so the water does not stay stagnant either. We are also sprinkling bleaching powder and spraying larvicide.”
Lessons from art
Paintings on dengue at a sit-and draw at DLF New Town Heights
Not just pandals, mosquitoes were the buzzword during cultural activities too. At DLF New Town Heights, the topic for sit-and-draw wasn’t Durga but the prevention of dengue.
“There have been many cases reported from complexes around us like Sukhobrishti and Elita Garden Vista,” said Liza Agasti, joint secretary of their festival committee. “Doctors who live in our complex have also been saying that almost every case going for test is returning positive. At the puja meeting called by the police, NKDA chief Debashis Sen also asked us to be careful about dengue. So we decided to make this the topic for the kids’ drawing contest,” added Piyali Nag, treasurer, festival committee.
So the 9-12 and 13-16 year-olds all got the topic of “dengue prevention”. Those up to the age of eight were to draw “green world” and there were a total of 57 participants.
“Durga as a topic is given every year but this time, dengue is the burning issue. I was surprised to see how aware kids are and how creatively they put their thoughts to paper,” said resident and one of the judges, Nupur Dasgupta.
The kids drew mosquitoes, repellents and images of water containers kept covered. Avik Kashyap won third prize for his poster of dos and don’ts. “I myself wear anti-mosquito patches when going out and use the spray if windows are open. Most of my friends know how to prevent mosquitoes too but do not follow it,” said the fourth grader, hoping the sit-and-draw would help create an impact.