Highest single-day immersions in Kol, KMC starts ghat clean-up drive
Times of India | 5 November 2024
123 Kolkata: A Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) cleanliness campaign cleared most of the key ghats along the Hooghly on Monday, after 6,500 idol immersions took place on Sunday — the highest number of immersions of Kali idols in a day.
Most of these idols were conveyed to four major ghats — Bajekadamtolla ghat, (Babughat), Judges ghat, Nimtolla ghat and Doighat (Kidderpore). Whilst the KMC teams stationed at these major ghats worked overtime until Monday evening to sanitise the areas, the state of some smaller north Kolkata ghats, including Ahiritolla, Chapatolla and Kumartuli, was contrary. According to a KMC official, the civic teams' primary emphasis was on the major ghats that accommodated approximately 3,000 idols in under 12 hours. "We will complete cleaning of the smaller ghats by Tuesday," said a civic official.
However, a KMC source acknowledged the civic body's solid waste management department would need to undertake a special drive to collect plastic waste from all ghats along the Hooghly and neighbouring ponds where immersions happened. "We promptly removed idol structures from the major ghats. But now we need to collect numerous plastic bags that have been discarded by some puja organisers at the ghats," said a KMC official.
According to a KMC estimate, out of 10,000 idols, the KMC-maintained ghats and neighbourhood ponds accommodated roughly 6,500 immersions on Sunday night. There have been 5,420 immersions across the Kolkata Police area, approximately 60% of which occurred at the ghats along the Hooghly and the remainder in the local water bodies. Most of the big-budget immersions happened well past 1 am and the cop force at the ghats received stand-down orders at 5.10 am. Usually, immersions conclude between 2.30 am and 3 am.
The police said they have instructed the DMG teams on duty to take 24 hours and be prepared for Thursday and Friday, when thousands will return to these water bodies for Chhath. This will include inspecting police equipment and conducting regular anti-sabotage checks and police placements at sensitive zones leading to the water bodies. Sources indicated that the checks were to ensure nobody was carrying prohibited firecrackers.
The immersions on the final day were not without disputes, however. Late on Sunday, police received complaints about DJ music during processions in several areas in north and south Kolkata. Using DJs during immersion has been forbidden for several years in Kolkata.
The extensive immersions on the day of Bhai Phonta also resulted in several arterial roads becoming congested. Additionally, firecrackers were burst despite law-enforcement agencies attempting to prevent such activities.