As many as 113 award-winning Puja committees from across Kolkata will participate in the annual Durga Puja Immersion Carnival 2025 on Red Road this Sunday, the Tourism Department said, adding that preparations are in full swing for the post-Vijaya Dashami carnival in the city.

The event, organised by the West Bengal government since 2016 (except during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021), will include song and dance performances and is expected to draw large crowds and a significant official presence.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, several state ministers, senior administration and police officials are scheduled to attend, and officials said that representatives or consul generals from about 15 countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, the United States, Bhutan and China, have been invited.

The carnival was first organised after Durga Puja in Kolkata won UNESCO recognition in December 2021, when it was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

To ensure public safety and smooth movement during the immersion carnival, Kolkata Police on Friday issued a comprehensive traffic plan that will impose road closures, vehicle diversions and parking prohibitions across the central business district.

The restrictions will be enforced to facilitate the event and are being implemented under the authority of Manoj Verma, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata.

Khidderpore Road, from the Hastings crossing to Lovers Lane, will be closed to vehicular traffic from 2pm until the carnival ends; police said this restriction will also affect traffic coming off Vidyasagar Setu.

Hospital Road northbound from the AJC Bose Road crossing will be open only to vehicles related to the carnival during the same hours, and Mayo Road westbound from J L Nehru Road will allow only stickered vehicles as needed.

Red Road, Lovers Lane, Queenway, Plassey Gate Road and Esplanade Ramp will be closed to vehicular traffic from 14:00 hrs until the programme is over.

Red Road will also be closed for vehicular traffic earlier, from 00:00 hrs to 09:00 hrs on October 5 to facilitate necessary infrastructure work. Vehicular traffic will resume on the stretch only from 09:00 hrs to 14:00 hrs, as and when traffic police deem it necessary.

Spectators have been advised to reach the venue on foot via AJC Bose Road, Chowringhee Road, Outram Road, Mayo Road or R R Avenue, rather than using Khidderpore Road.

Those arriving by public transport have been asked to alight at Esplanade or Park Street and proceed to the designated public enclosures; tram, metro and bus services will be used to disperse crowds to nearby access points.

To facilitate crowd management, parking will be prohibited on key stretches, including Government Place West between R R Avenue and Esplanade Row West and sections of Chowringhee Road, from noon on October 5 until crowds have dispersed.