Festive revelry hit the right notes on Saptami, with a clear sky providing the perfect backdrop for pandal hopping. Fearing rain later in the day, thousands took to the streets early Monday morning, determined to make the most of the dry weather.
The clear autumn morning prompted many to sacrifice sleep to be out and about. A family in Kasba, for example, returned home early from a night tour of the city, grabbed just four hours of sleep, and were back on the road by noon.
The surge of pedestrians and vehicles slowed traffic near some of the city’s popular pandals on Monday morning. Police deployment in the afternoon helped ease the congestion.
“The peak rush is between 8pm and 2am, but the crowd this morning was more than usual. The clear sky and rain forecast are playing on people’s minds,” said Santanu Banerjee, a n organiser of the Mudiali Club puja.
By 3pm, serpentine queues had formed outside Mudiali and Shibmandir Sarbojanin, the twin pujas in the Rabindra Sarobar area. Tridhara, Ekdalia, Singhi Park, Suruchi Sangha, and Chetla Agrani were also crowded since morning.
In the north, pujas at Telangabagan, Tala Prattoy, Chaltabagan Sarbojanin, and Hatibagan Sarbojanin saw soaring footfall well before dusk.
“There’s rain forecast for all the puja days. We stepped out early because the sky was clear. If it rains in the evening, we’ll head to a restaurant or café,” said Tamaghna Majumdar, 36, a private bank employee who came to Mudiali with friends from Barasat.
A large number of police volunteers and NCC cadets were stationed at nearly every busy intersection. Barricades narrowed roads near the pandals to ensure pedestrian safety, but many cars and app cabs dropped people close to the venues, further slowing traffic.
Gariahat, the Rashbehari connector, Durgapur Bridge, Sarat Bose Road, James Long Sarani, APC Road, Shyambazar, and Chingrighata saw significant traffic slowdowns, according to a police officer.
Police deployment began at 2.30pm, an hour earlier than usual. Officers on the streets ensured that pedestrians only crossed roads through barricaded channels, helping traffic flow smoothly by evening.
“Driving on VIP Road, from Lake Town to the EM Bypass connector past the Sreebhumi pandal, took me just over five minutes. Previously, during Puja, the same 1km stretch took me nearly 30 minutes,” said Debojyoti Roy, a local resident. Roy, his wife, and their eight-year-old daughter spent Sunday night pandal hopping around south Calcutta via the Bypass.
“There was some congestion at Chingrighata, but nothing unusual. The drive on Parama was a breeze,” added Roy, who works in Mumbai and visits his hometown for Puja.
Public transport was packed, with Sealdah suburban, Metro trains and stations teeming with passengers.
The increased footfall meant a boost in business for street vendors, ice cream carts, and stalls near the pandals.
“I have already sold more than 50 ice creams,” said a vendor near the Ekdalia Evergreen puja in Gariahat around 1pm. He had sold over 400 on Sashthi.
Soft drinks and cold beverages also flew off shelves amid the rising humidity.
At 33° Celsius, the maximum temperature was normal for this time of year, but the minimum relative humidity was as high as 63%, making 30 degrees feel like 36.
A Met bulletin on Monday confirmed the earlier forecast of heavy rain in Calcutta
on Dashami. A weather system brewing over the north Andaman Sea is expected to bring widespread rain across Bengal from October 2 to 5, the bulletin said.