Panditiya Road pool a hit, but buzz missing at other alternative sites

Kolkata: As the debate over NGT order violation raged after thousands swarmed Rabindra Sarobar on Saturday, there were others who preferred to give Lake a miss this year and chose to perform Chhath rituals at local water bodies. While some — like the pool on Panditiya Road — were an instant hit, the response was lukewarm at others — like Patuli, Nonadanga or Layelka.

The likes of businessman Anil Paswan, a Hazra Road resident, went to perform pujas at a makeshift pool at Tentultala ground off Panditiya Road. This pool was built for a sizeable non-Bengali population in the neighbourhood. Though construction of the makeshift pool was a private initiative, KMC and Kolkata Police extended their helping hand.

Debasish Kumar, MMiC and the local councillor who took the initiative for its construction, said civic volunteers and social workers will continue to provide all amenities on Sunday as well.

Apart from the Panditiya pool, KMC had prepared 11 other water bodies for the devotess. Around 3,000 devotees performed Chhath Puja at the Nonadanga venue but the civic body had expected more footfall here. “The amenities and police arrangement were good. May be, more people will throng the place from next year,” said Radhika Shaw, a devotee from Panchanna Gram.

The water body at Patuli saw a footfall of around 2,000 devotees, mostly from nearby localities, till Saturday evening. “When the government has made such good arrangements, devotees should visit these places rather that places that have been banned,” said Parmeshwar Yadav from Garia. The scenes at some other designated Chhath ghats, like Layelka, Katjunagar and Jodhpur Park, almost resembled that of Nonadanga and Patuli.