Twin cities bid adieu to Durga in an eco-friendly manner

BHUBANESWAR/CUTTACK: The twin cities on Saturday bade farewell to Goddess Durga amid much fanfare. As part of the environment-friendly immersion process, the idols were immersed at two artificial ponds on the banks of the Kuakhai and the Daya in Bhubaneswar and an equal number of ponds on the banks of the Kathajodi in Cuttack.
With 174 puja pandals in Bhubaneswar alone, the grand immersion processions drew thousands of people."Besides digging artificial ponds, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) also ensured proper roads and lighting near them for smooth immersion," said Bhubaneswar mayor Anant Narayan Jena.
Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahoo said four important spots - Saheed Nagar, Old Town, Nayapalli and Chandrasekharpur - were chosen for the assembly of the idols. He said 28 platoons of police were deployed to maintain law and order during the immersion procession.
For the first time, the BMC engineering wing deployed a crane for smooth immersion of the idols.
A total of 166 puja mandaps came up in Cuttack this year. A security blanket was thrown around Cuttack, as the city is notorious for clashes during immersion. As many as 60 platoons of police were deployed and two dedicated control rooms - one at Purighat police station and other at Dargha Bazaar police station - were set up.
A report from Berhampur said the Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) has built four artificial ponds for the immersion of the idols of Durga and her children on Sunday. They have been dug at Goshaninuagoan, Andhpasara Road, First Gate and Ambapua, BeMC commissioner Chakravarti Singh Rathore said.
Meanwhile in Jharsuguda, the members of Om Shri Puja Committee in Sarbahal took out a silent immersion procession on Saturday out for respect for the 59 people who died in a train accident in Amritsar on Friday.