Puja organisers scrambled to alter plans as rain came down on Navami afternoon.
They had many problems at hand — bhog distribution disrupted by rain, leaking corners of pandals, wet walkways that had to be dealt with before the deluge of people resumed.
Late lunch
Several puja organisers said the timing of the showers — it started around 12.30pm — hampered preparations for the community lunch and distribution of Navami bhog.
“Some of our senior members had to be ferried in specially arranged cars to the pandal where lunch was served. The young crowd took shelter in the pandal as it began pouring. The afternoon adda was spoilt,” said Samir Roychowdhury, president of the Golf Green Phase I puja.
A row of umbrellas had to be set up to cover the stretch between the kitchen and the place where the food was being served at the pandal.
At other places, the community Navami lunch had to be pushed back by at least an hour from 12.30pm with the rain leaving the ground slushy.
“We have over 280 apartments and many of our residents had to wait as we laid the tables and made arrangements to serve lunch at an alternative place. And not everyone was happy with the unavoidable delay,” said a senior member of a residents’ welfare association in Kankurgachhi.
Crowd control, caution
The rain left several puja organisers with partly-covered pandals and open entrances struggling.
“Our volunteers managed to bring some of the visitors inside the already crowded pandal. But not everyone could be accommodated. Since the entrance to the pandal is not covered on the top,
many visitors got wet,” said a senior organiser of Hatibagan Nabin Pally, themed on celebrating 100 years of Sukumar Ray’s Abol Tabol.
“We are not sure what is in store on Dashami.”
In the city’s north, organisers of the Chorabagan puja, mostly made of iron rods and scaffoldings, said they were worried because some of their electrical wires could be exposed to the rain.
“We have asked for a thorough re-check of our electrical arrangements by a CESC team,” said a senior member.
The Puja organisers at Bosepukur Sitalamandir in Kasba, where the pandal is made of iron chairs, voiced similar concerns.
Dashami preparation
While several big-ticket pujas will wait to participate in the carnival on Red Road on October 27, many others will be opting for idol immersion on Tuesday.
Monday’s rain and the overcast sky later prompted many puja organisers to convene an emergency meeting to discuss immersion plans amid showers, if it were to rain on Dashami.
By Monday evening, many puja committees said they had drawn up alternative plans for performing baran of the Goddess, one of the main customs before the immersion.
“We will bring the idol out in the open from the pandal, cover the sides and the top with tarpaulin and then start the ritual,” said a puja organiser in Kasba.
Traffic
As the showers began on Navami afternoon, traffic along most of the city’s key thoroughfares slowed down. With visitors scampering to find shelter amid heavy showers, traffic on the roads reduced and it was a smooth ride for those still on the road.
A young couple said they went from Howrah to Hatibagan in 20 minutes in the rain.
By 4.30pm, the crowd was back on the roads, making its way through the channels set up for visitors to pandals along major arteries.
Senior police officers said visitors told them they did not want the rain to ruin their Navami festivities.