90 puja clubs, 3.5k cops, 35k crowd: Stage set for carnival

Kolkata: Members and idols of more than 90 Durga Pujas will travel down Red Road with more than 35,000 people in attendance and others connecting digitally. While there is excitement over the carnival, there is anxiety over a dissent carnival organised by a section of doctors aligned to Left parties on Rani Rashmoni Avenue and a BJP-led procession from College Street to Dorina crossing. Junior doctors have also planned a human chain. Keen to ensure that the puja carnival does not get derailed by the multiple protest events, Kolkata Police will deploy 2,000 cops along the carnival route in addition to 1,000 more at Esplanade and the end of Rani Rashmoni Avenue. Around 500 cops will be deployed on Red Road.

Also, 20 luxury buses were found parked on Rani Rashmoni Road on Monday, triggering speculation on whether Lalbazar planned to use them as barriers along the carnival route. In addition, RAF will be deployed at strategic locations with officers in plain clothes. Additional CCTV cameras have been set up across Maidan and men from SB will be deployed to provide alerts on possible trouble build-up. A special wireless tower will be set up for police communication. While cops engaged in strategies to secure the carnival route, puja committees prepared for the event co-ordinating dance moves, decorating tableaux and checking costumes. Some of the big pujas that will participate in the Red Road carnival on Tuesday are Ballygunge Cultural Association, Behala Nutan Dal, Ahiritola Sarbojanin, Suruchi Sangha, Tridhara, Sreebhumi Sporting and Chetla Agrani. Each puja committee will get two-three minutes for a presentation. Many puja committees have brought in special Chhau dancers from Purulia and baul singers from Bolpur while others have roped in film stars to lead their entourage. “We will perform dhamsa madal with a team of 20 from Purulia and will have a dance performance by Tollywood actors Sampurna Lahiri, Neel Dasgupta and others. There will be a cavalcade of dhak and five tableaux,” said Sanjay Majumdar, secretary of Thakurpukur SB Park Sarbojanin.Members of Hatibagan Sarbojanin have prepared a small item for the carnival. A member of Ahiritola Sarbojanin was rehearsing dance moves on Monday. “This is my first time at the carnival and I am excited,” said Keya Sengupta, a member of the entourage which will be at Red Road. In the audience will be chief minister Mamata Banerjee, senior ministers, bureaucrats and IPS officers. “We have been practising for the Red Road carnival since Sunday,” said Subhankar Saha, secretary of Vivekananda Park Athletic Club near the Haridevpur bus stop.“The Red Road carnival started in 2016 and this year, it‘s set to be larger than ever,” said an official supervising preparations on Red Road.
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