October 4, 2014
KMC and Kolkata Police gear up for Durga idol immersions
Elaborate security arrangements by Kolkata police as well as civic authorities are in place at various ghats of the river Hooghly to ensure that the immersion of Durga idols passes off peacefully. Officers of the Kolkata Police are manning the riverfront to prevent onlookers from getting too close to the river. Special vigil is being maintained from a watch tower near the ghat.
Cranes have been deployed at certain ghats to lift and extricate the remains of idols from the river to avoid pollution. Additional lights have been put up at the immersion ghats and the flowers, levers and metallic weapons are being dumped in separate vats to avoid polluting the river.
Other than maintaining law and order during immersion, the teams of river police and disaster management groups patrolling the Hooghly river. Closed-circuit television cameras have been installed at certain ghats.
More than 2,700 community pujas were organised in the city and their idols will be immersed in the river. Arrangements have been made for the immersion of idols at around 13 river ghats. Over 200 volunteers were engaged by the civic body at the various locations.
There will be no immersion on October 5 because of Eid. They will resume on October 6 after 8 PM.
“It is a Bengali ritual that Goddess Lakshmi cannot be worshipped before bidding farewell to Goddess Durga. So the immersion has to be completed before we celebrate Lakshmi Puja on October 7,” WB CM said at a function earlier this month.
The Kolkata Police had already released the permission forms for immersion procedure on its website.
