Low-key immersion marks end of Durga Puja festival in West Bengal – The Hindu – Kolkata Telegram

Elaborate arrangements were made at the 21 ghats in Kolkata, where hundreds of idols were immersed in the river Hooghly

A low-key immersion of idols on Monday marked the end of week-long Durga Puja festival in West Bengal that was held amidst the COVID-19 pandemic under extreme caution. No immersion procession was allowed at the ghats and only one or two members of the Durga Puja committee was allowed to go to the river.

Also read: In Kolkata, empty pandals and roads mark Durga Puja

Elaborate arrangements were made at the 21 ghats in the city, where hundreds of idols were immersed in the river Hooghly. Chairman of Board of Administrators of Kolkata Municipal Corporation Firhad Hakim said the civic body was following the restrictions both due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the order of the National Green Tribunal on immersion of idols.

Cranes were used at major ghats to extricate the immersed idols. The State Transport Department has commissioned a jetty so that people can watch the immersion from the river. There was low-key immersion in the other rivers and water bodies of the State, including Ichamati, where people on both banks — India and Bangladesh — come in boats to witness the immersion.

A devotee puts a mask on the face of goddess Durga at a community puja pandal in Prayagraj.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee inaugurates a community Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata.

Visitors taking photos from outside a puja pandal as they weren’t allowed inside, as per the Calcutta High Court ruling owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A notice hangs outside a closed puja pandal, on the first day of Durga Puja festival, amidst the spread of COVID-19 in Kolkata.

A community puja pandal in Kolkata. All small Durga Puja pandals of five metres and large puja pandals of 10 metres were declared a no-entry zone.

Bohurupees (impersonators) dressed as a railway porter, rickshaw puller and postman stand at a community puja pandal to entertain visitors.

A community puja pandal depicted the plight of migrant workers during COVID-19 lockdown ahead of Durga Puja festival, in Kolkata.

A community puja pandal in Kolkata symbolising cyclone Amphan.

An idol of Durga at a community puja pandal. About 37,000 Durga Pujas were organised across West Bengal, prompting the Calcutta HC from banning visitors inside the pandals.

Idol of goddess Durga at a community puja pandal in Kolkata. Only those organisers whose names were displayed outside were allowed to enter the pandals. This list, the court said, cannot be changed every day.

A priest performs Mahasaptami rituals at a Durga Puja pandal, live streamed and recorded to help devotees attend celebrations online, amid COVID-19 pandemic, in Ranchi.

Devotees wearing PPE kit perform dandiya at a community puja pandal, during Durga Puja celebrations in Kolkata.

Workers walk past a clay idol of a migrant mother, symbolising goddess Durga, holding a child in her arms and walking with more children surrounded by relief material, at a makeshift community worship venue in Kolkata.

A devotee puts a mask on the face of goddess Durga at a community puja pandal in Prayagraj.

Mr. Hakim said that most of the immersions in the city would be over by Tuesday and only a few big-ticket Pujas would be left. The size of Durga idols were smaller this year and environmentalist say that it is good news for the river as the pollution will be under control.

The festival saw few people on the streets in Kolkata and other towns as the Calcutta High Court had ordered that all Puja pandals would be no entry zones.

4,121 new COVID-19 cases, 59 deaths

Meanwhile, the State added 4,121 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours, taking the total cases to 3,53,822. Fiftynine people lost their lives, taking the toll to 6,546. Of the 59, Kolkata reported 14 deaths taking the toll in the city to 2,125. North 24 Parganas recorded 15 deaths taking the toll in the district to 1497.

Kolkata recorded 892 new infections while North 24 Parganas recorded 889 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kolkata/low-key-immersion-marks-end-of-durga-puja-festival-in-west-bengal/article32950128.ece

Elaborate arrangements were made at the 21 ghats in Kolkata, where hundreds of idols were immersed in the river Hooghly

4,121 new COVID-19 cases, 59 deaths

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