Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to inaugurate at least five Durga pujas on Mahalaya on Wednesday.
Sources in the chief minister’s office said Mamata was scheduled to start with Chetla Agrani, the puja that has Firhad Hakim, chairman of the board of administrators of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, as its chief patron.
Sources said Mamata was likely to draw the third eye of the goddess at Chetla Agrani, a ritual the chief minister has been following for a few years.
“Our Puja will begin the moment Didi completes drawing the third eye of the goddess amid blowing of conch shells. The pandal will be thrown open to visitors soon after,” said a member of the club.
The chief minister is likely to inaugurate at least four other pujas — Selimpur, 95 Pally, Babubagan and Jodhpur Park. “The chief minister is scheduled to reach Jodhpur Park around 5pm,” said a committee member.
She is also scheduled to attend a programme of Jago Bangla, the Trinamul mouthpiece, at Nazrul Mancha on Wednesday.
Kolkata police commissioner Soumen Mitra visited the Chetla Agrani pandal on Tuesday and several others like Ekdalia Evergreen in Gariahat, Deshapriya Park and Suruchi Sangha in New Alipore. “We have told the Puja organisers that volunteers who will be deployed for handling crowds beyond the no-entry zone should preferably be fully vaccinated,” said an officer accompanying Mitra.
The police commissioner said all visitors to pandals must wear masks and every organiser should adhere to the restrictions imposed by Calcutta High Court.
The court had last year declared that no visitors would be allowed inside pandals and areas within 10m of a big pandal and 5m of a small pandal would be demarcated as a no-entry zone. The rule is in force this year, too.
Only 25 people — members of the respective puja committees — will be allowed inside big pandals and 15 in smaller pandals.
While the police deployment for Durga Puja is likely to start on Tritiya (Friday), senior officers on Tuesday asked cops managing traffic around the pandals the chief minister is scheduled to visit on Wednesday to make required arrangements.