In puja mode: Pandal-hoppers & shoppers take over Kol streets

Kolkata: Some came out carrying office bags and in formal attire, and some were out carrying backpacks, with a larger number holding shopping bags. A sea of revellers crowded multiple Durga Puja pandals in different parts of Kolkata on Friday, leaving traffic crawling for several hours in the evening. However, the situation changed in the late evening when large parts of the city received a steady shower that continued as a drizzle till late in the night, sending the enthusiastic pandal-hoppers home earlier than they had planned.Since 5 pm, Gariahat was abuzz with shoppers and revellers, many of whom came directly from office and colleges.. There were also many families with kids who flooded the major pandals in the Gariahat-Rasbehari Avenue belt immediately after CM Mamata Banerjee inaugurated popular pandals, like Ekdalia Evergreen, Singhi Park, Hindusthan Park, Ballygunge Cultural and Tridhara Sammilani.“I checked a notification on Facebook about the CM inaugurating the pujas in Gariahat and made an impromptu plan with a colleague to visit the pandals around Gariahat. She had also planned for some last-minute shopping. We left office a little early and had a great time pandal-hopping in Gariahat and Rashbehari Avenue. We also bought shoes and some jewellery from Gariahat,” said Puja Dutta, a resident of Kasba who works at a Camac Street office. However, Dutta rushed back home without heading to Tridhara Sammilani as it began to rain.College student Rituparna Das (18) was at the Ekdalia Evergreen pandal with a group of friends, clicking photographs and making reels around the pandal. “The college got over today and many of my friends who live in districts will be going home on Saturday. So, we decided Friday was the best time for pandal-hopping. We visited multiple pandals and had some good food while some of us also did some quick shopping,” said Das, a Garia resident.With a large number of revellers descending on the road by early evening, it had an immediate impact on evening traffic. Cops attributed the traffic logjam to four major reasons — an early outing by revellers, last-minute shoppers, VIPs inaugurating pandals, constriction of vehicular road space due to temporary pedestrian channels and cars parked in bylanes.Later, the rain forced revellers to run for cover and the crowd thinned outside several pandals. The rain further slowed traffic, the cops said.Topsia resident Biplab Goldar said after office, he picked up his wife and six-year-old daughter on his bike and went pandal-hopping. “We went to Sreebhumi Sporting before visiting pandals in Salt Lake and New Town. When it began to rain, we waited for a while for the shower to stop and headed home when it turned into a drizzle,” Goldar said.Sunayna Das, a techie from Baranagar, was disappointed to find that a few pandals in Dum Dum and Bangur Avenue were still not allowing visitors. “I had made a checklist of pujas to visit after office on Friday but could only visit Sreebhumi. I then headed to Salt Lake,” said Das.(Inputs from Dwaipayan Ghosh & Debobrata Shome)
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