About 250 idols of Goddess Kali were immersed at ghats along the Hooghly till 7.30pm on Tuesday, the first of the three-day window for idol immersions, a Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) official said.
The official noted that 2,300 idols were immersed on the first day last year.
The KMC has arranged immersion facilities at 18 ghats along the Hooghly. Additionally, around 40 water bodies in Jadavpur and Tollygunge have been prepared for immersions.
“The rate of immersion was very slow till about 5pm. Being a Tuesday, many Kali Puja organisers preferred not to immerse the idols on the first day,” said a KMC official.
Kali idol immersion in progress at Baje Kadamtala Ghat
“As the evening progressed, the pace picked up, but it still seemed much lower than last year,” added the official.
Nimtala Ghat, Baje Kadamtala Ghat, Doighat and Judges Ghat are among the main immersion points for Kali Puja idols.
Last year, a total of about 9,000 Kali Puja idols were immersed at ghats along the Hooghly in Calcutta.
Curbs
An officer of Kolkata Police said that immersion processions are not permitted to play loud music — colloquially referred to as DJ — or burst firecrackers.
A Calcutta High Court order permitted firecrackers only on Diwali, within a two-hour window from 8pm to 10pm. However, this directive was blatantly disregarded across the city.
As with Durga Puja, only a couple of representatives from each Kali Puja organising group were allowed inside the ghats. The rest were asked to wait outside the barricaded areas.
Large cranes and trucks were stationed at some ghats. Idols were lifted within minutes of immersion — cranes removed them from the water and placed them on trucks, which carried them away from the ghats.
“Usually, immersions continue till late into the night, often as late as 3am. But all idols have to be immersed by Thursday,” the KMC official said.