This year, you need to get your immersion time and day approved by the police if you plan to go to Upasana Ghat in New Town. The authorities have taken the decision to space out the immersion of idols by giving each puja committee a definite time slot in advance to reduce chances of a big gathering leading to risk of Covid-19 infection.
“In the online application that you submit, you have to point out the date and time when you intend to immerse the idol. If a particular time of the day gets overcrowded, we might ask you to change the time or the day,” said deputy commissioner, New Town, Bishop Sarkar. Immersion is allowed from Dashami to Trayodashi (October 26 to 29).
Sarkar was addressing an audience of puja organisers of New Town at a meeting called by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority and the Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation at Biswa Bangla Convention Centre last week.
The police is also discouraging elaborate processions. “The number of participants in the immersion group must be kept to a minimum,” he said.
The civic authorities will waive the immersion fee charged from pujas outside New Town this year. It was free for New Town pujas anyway, an official said.
A puja representative poses a question in a hall where seating was allowed at a gap of two chairs. Sudeshna Banerjee
Four for dhunuchi contest
Two contests will be organised this time. Speaking at the event, Hidco and NKDA chief Debashis Sen said the dhunuchi dance contest held every year at the immersion ghat will happen with a reduced number of participants. “We are used to groups of 10 or 20 people putting up beautifully choreographed dance sequences. This time the maximum number for participation in the contest will be four,” he said.
The NKDA will have a dhaaki in attendance who will play with every group of participants. “You do not need to bring a dhaaki,” Sen said.
Labourers will also be provided like every year to pick up the idols from the vehicles right down to immersion in the water, he added. “We will distribute prizes for the contests in December.”
Instead of the contest on aesthetic excellence, the civic authorities will award pujas in New Town on the basis of their Covid-19 protection measures, it was announced. The top three Covid-safe pujas will be chosen from housing complexes and blocks.
With infection through currency notes being a possibility, NKDA is giving puja organisers an option to avoid contact in collecting pronami. “You can pay the amount you usually do after offering anjali digitally this year. If you approach us with your puja committee’s bank account details, we can generate a QR code for you. A visitor on scanning your code can pay you digitally and the amount will get deposited in your bank account. We will provide the back-end technical help,” Sen said. He urged organisers to try out the option. “After all, we are a Smart City,” he said.
Two housing complexes have since approached NKDA for the QR code — Greenwood Park and Animikha Abasan.
He also urged puja inaugurations to be done virtually if any guest was to be invited to do the honours.
A slide show was put up with the Puja guidelines that had earlier been announced by chief minister
Mamata Banerjee on September 24.
In response to the directive to keep three sides of the pandal open, some organisers asked whether they could continue to hold puja in their community hall. “We are doing it inside the hall for 10 years now,” said a representatives of Jal Vayu Tower. Another puja committee member asked whether keeping three doors open would be safe enough to reduce chances of infection in a hall.
“I am not aware of the answer,” Sen said, adding that his advice would be “indirect”.
“At Swapna Bhor, we were supposed to hold the puja in the banquet hall. But after the state government’s directive was issued, the puja has been shifted to the verandah outside,” he informed, leaving organisers to make their own deduction.
