Kolkata: The Durga idol at Chorbagan, which drew lakhs of devotees just days ago, now stands alone and deserted as its immersion remains on hold following the Saptami stampede that claimed 19 lives.While the city marked the final day of the festival on Dashami on Wednesday, the customary Goddess farewell rituals were omitted at the cordoned-off pandal site. To an area that used to witness over 10 dhakis playing together, bands playing the latest tunes, hundreds gathering on CR Avenue to see the Goddess return to her abode and locals dancing their way to the immersion ghat, Wednesday and Thursday presented an extremely different picture. Only two local women and the priest now have access to offer the daily prayers and continue the rituals.To maintain religious tradition, only a ceremonial immersion of the sacred pitcher (ghot) was performed around 9 am on Wednesday.The entire venue near Girish Park has now been transformed into a crime scene, sealed off under heavy security as a court-monitored SIT conducts a thorough probe into the tragedy along with the Lalbazar SIT.Investigators are scheduled to inspect the structural layout and physical evidence to finalise their report and it may be weeks before Sarada Park — the venue of the puja — might see the pandal being dismantled.Retired HC judge Anindita Roy Saraswati, who is heading the court-monitored SIT, said: “Immersion of the idol can be considered. But the pandal will remain exactly as it is. I want it preserved in its original form.”Lalbazar sources said a meeting was held on Thursday on the possible date of immersion though the details were not shared. “The state SIT — which is also the judicial SIT — will take a call on the date,” said a senior officer at Lalbazar.Locals at the spot though claimed that they wanted an urgent meeting with the administration in this regard.“Chorbagan puja, till 2016, was a very homely affair. Ever since it went big, it has not just cut off a large section of locals from the puja, they also take over the playground for close to six to seven months every year. If there is a need to keep the pandal intact, we will all pitch in as this involves 19 innocent lives. But the administration can at least remove the barricades and flexes so that we can get access to our homes. This is an extremely congested area and we are worried that stray shells might land on the pandal during Kali Puja,” said Ankit Singh, a local resident.Several locals claimed they will also hold a meeting in the coming months to “reclaim” the puja. “We have had enough of these big-scale arrangements. From next year, we propose to carry out the puja ourselves. We have seen how the crowd behaved even prior to the stampede and we think that we do not want to go viral anymore. We will collect subscriptions on our own and the puja will be an open one,” claimed Jiten Raha, a local.“In 2023, we had another nearly stampede-like situation on Nabami. But we had acted immediately, along with police, and had blocked all entrances. We even said there were technical glitches and switched off pandal lights for a few minutes. But then, the locals were involved. You cannot have outsiders from districts acting as volunteers who have no idea of the topography here,” said Nitesh singh, another resident.
