Durga Puja set to conclude in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar as grand immersion ceremony gets underway

The Durga puja festivities will come to a close in Odisha with the stage set for a grand immersion ceremony on Wednesday. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the immersion ceremony in the Twin Cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

While the idol immersion process in Cuttack started last night, the same has begun this morning in Bhubaneswar.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) has set up makeshift ponds for the immersion purpose. Two of them have been dug up at Daya river and Bankual river ghats. The other two ponds have come up Kuakhai river bank on the outskirts of the smart city.

Traffic restrictions have been put in place to ward off any untoward incident during the immersion ceremony in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

Janpath in Bhubaneswar has been restricted for all kinds of vehicles during the immersion procession of Saheed Nagar puja committee. Similarly, traffic from CRP square will be diverted through Ekamra park towards Jayadev Vihar.

In Cuttack, the immersion processions have already started in different puja mandaps as they stroll down to the Devi Gada where they will bid adieu to the Goddess Durga. Some of them have completed the immersion procedure as well.

Speaking to OTV, Secretary of Badambadi Puja Committee said, “We have made elaborate arrangements to make the immersion ceremony a success. As this is the entry point to Cuttack city, we want it to be a pleasant experience for the visitors and devotees.”

“All the puja committees and the Cuttack Durga Puja Shanti Committee have already decided to make the immersion ceremony this year as DJ and booze free,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the peace committee had earlier proposed to ban alcohol and DJ music in the immersion ceremony this year. Moreover, the committee demanded relaxation in helmet-checking rules and permission to conduct melody and use loudspeakers till 12 am during the Durga puja this year.

“The awful impacts of DJ and alcohol are well known to everyone. This could be a new beginning and everyone should follow the same. Everybody doesn’t consume alcohol. There are some people with such habits and with repeated requests, the graph has come down now,” said Debendra Sahu, president of Cuttack Mahanagar Shanti Committee.