The majority of the blocks performed simple pujas this year without a theme or a stylised idol to attract crowds. The few that did drew crowds that weren’t a patch on pre-pandemic years but were certainly head and shoulders above last year’s footfall.
As per the Bidhannagar commissionerate, the top crowd-pullers were FD, New Town’s Balaka Abasan and AK Block, followed by AD (Part 1) and AJ.
FD Block
The medieval manor that had come up in FD Park. The Telegraph
“My pandal-hopping isn’t complete till I visit FD so here I am,” said Abhijit Dey of Ultadanga. “The pandal this year isn’t as grand as it is in other years, but still, I had to tick the box.” The mandap here resembled a medieval manor house.
Police estimated around 1,000 revellers visited the puja on Asthami night (between 8pm and midnight) and about 1,300 visitors on Navami. These are paltry numbers compared to pre-pandemic days when crowds had to be harnessed with multiple ropes. The throngs would choke the street from FD Park up to Labony Island, take a U-turn and clog some more of the street there.
This year there were just some guard rails placed near the gate and even they weren’t strictly being adhered to either. Visitors sauntered along casually, buying snacks or toys on the way.
“This year there’s no puja more crowded than Sreebhumi,” said a traffic policeman posted at the FD puja. “But since Sreebhumi has been closed to public today (Navami night) FD might draw a few people.”
But on Chaturdoshi, puja president Banibrata Banerjee said it was Saptami that saw the biggest footfall. “Possibly the rain on Ashtami and the forecast of more rain on Navami made people wary of stepping out on the last night,” he said.
He pointed out that many who customarily headed for FD Block after watching Sreebhumi could
not do so as Burj Khalifa took up inordinately long hours. “People were too tired by then to go anywhere else.”
Even then, the visitor count had improved significantly since last year. “In 2020, we got barely 6-7 lakh people over nine days. This year, it had jumped to 12-13 lakh. Of course, this is still significantly less than the 20-22 lakh we were used to drawing till 2019. Still, we are satisfied. This is much more than we expected. In any case, we had announced that we would scale down the puja in view of the pandemic. We did not want a big crowd,” Banerjee said.
Balaka Abasan, New Town
If it weren’t for masks, no one at this puja would have guessed this was a pandemic year. The crowds were as abundant as ever, pouring in from Rajarhat and beyond, the stalls outside sold not just phuckha but also furniture, jewellery, clothes and crockery, the parking lots were constantly full.
“Once again, Balaka has claimed rank 1 to 10 among pujas in New Town,” said toto driver Sanat Sardar. “Thereafter they are asking us to take them either to Sreebhumi or to Salt Lake pujas. I’m charging Rs 300 an hour.”
The attraction at this puja was a 20ft fibre statue of lord Shiva sitting atop a cave. The Durga idol was in a temple that was reached through the cave. But only 10 people at a time were being allowed in.
Amit Das was making a quick buck by selling masks at the entry gate. “It’s unbelievable how many people are forgetting their masks home,” he said, selling the last of a bundle of 100 surgical masks by 7.30pm on Navami. “I’m charging them Rs 10 instead of Rs 5 so they learn a lesson,” he added before rushing to replenish stocks.
“Crowds peaked from 5pm to 3am and on Ashtami and Navami,” said joint secretary Rakesh Gupta. To maintain the crowds were about 80 volunteers from the complex, 30 security guards, 25 civic policemen and several regular police people too. “Crowds are less than in 2019 but are much more than last year. In fact people continued to come till we immersed the idol on Dwadashi.”
AE (Part 1)
Unlike some other big budget pujas, AE (Part 1) lived up to its reputation. To abide by the state government’s guidelines, they placed their artistic idol in a way that visitors could see it from the road. And they splashed their colourful theme all over the approach road.
Different stages of Durga puja were depicted in paintings and sculptures on one side while the other was a mosaic of mirrors.
“Last year, I didn’t leave home during the Pujas but this time I’ve ventured out to see a few renowned ones. AE (Part 1) is the best puja in Salt Lake this year,” said Arijit Datta, who had come from Santragachhi with a friend.
Block secretary Supriyo Chakraborty said footfall was way more than last year. “But of course, many elderly people were still scared to venture out of homes. But we invested in an open-air pandal that people could view while walking past the idol and it paid off.”
Stalls outside sold all from biriyani and juice to ice cream and pickle. The phuchka seller was barely visible on Navami evening, as he was gheraoed by no less than 15 customers.
“I sell rolls here round the year and make Rs 1,000 to 1,200 a day. But these Puja days I’m selling nearly five times as much. The crowd too seems almost like it was in 2019,” said a delighted Amal Kumar Das.
AK Block
Visitors here were not allowed to enter AK Park and so they crowded around haphazardly at the gate clicking pictures of the beautiful idol. The pandal was a blown-up model of the wooden throne that household idols are placed in.
Police estimated around 900 people here on Asthami night and 800 on Navami. “Crowds are thick, particularly between 7pm and 2am,” said one of the security guards at the entrance, without sharing his name. “But it’s sad how many people are still moving about without masks. We are finding about one such in every 50 visitors and asking them to put on their masks.”
“We are very satisfied with the footfall. We did not raise barricades and narrow the passage which would have slowed down the pace. People could walk along the wide road surrounding the park at leisure and watch the idol clearly from there. We had steady visitors till 2am. The highest footfall was on Navami,” said general secretary Aritra Ranjan Sen.
He surmised that on the last night, when the Sreebhumi pandal was shut to visitors, people entered Salt Lake from the Kestopur side.
“The total count would be three to four times of last year. The joy was back on people’s faces, replacing the fear of last year,” Sen added.
AJ Block
Being located close to the 206 Footbridge and being part of the AJ-BJ-AK triangle of big ticket pujas, this block drew ample crowds. But their vast open-air pandal prevented crowding.
“Our mandap was about 2,200sq ft and we allowed only about 30 people in a time so it was never congested,” said media convener Moinak Dutta. “Still we had to tell people off pretty often for clicking selfies with their masks off. We also restricted the number of stalls and hawkers outside.”
The police people posted at the AJ-BJ Block crossing looked far more relaxed than in pre-pandemic puja days too. “It’s crowded but it’s not a patch on what it used to be,” said one of them. “By this time in other years we would be holding back pedestrians crossing between AJ and BJ block with ropes,” said a police person at about 7pm (chk time from pix???) on Navami.
Auto driver Khokon Ghosh felt a chunk of Salt Lake’s potential visitors were stuck at Sreebhumi. “As for the others, AJ is one of few blocks that has an attractive pandal so I am loitering here for passengers.”
But Sanjoy Barman, owner of the Scone fast food outlet in AJ Block, says this Navami has been his highest selling Navami in their 21 years of business. He also set up a stall in food court behind BJ pandal but sale wasn’t as robust there. “The pandal design in BJ Block was such that many visitors took U-turns from the gate itself without going up to the idol and reaching the food court behind. AJ is where I did bumper business.”