This Saptami was not the Saptami Calcutta usually experiences.

As the Covid-19 pandemic forced many people to stay away from pandals across the city, puja organisers said they could not remember the last time they witnessed a Durga Puja like this.

From north to south, the organisers of a number of big-ticket pujas lamented the low turnout.

In the afternoon, only residents of respective neighbourhoods were seen around pandals. The count rose a little in the afternoon as a section of people ventured beyond their localities to see pandals and the deity.

But for most puja organisers, that was nothing compared with the turnout in previous years.

“Last year, even with the Tallah bridge inaccessible, around seven lakh people used to visit our pandal daily. This year, it is not even a fraction of that. We are not even trying to keep count as the turnout is pathetically low,” said Abhishek Bhattacharya of Tala Barowari puja committee, which is celebrating its 100th year. “Unlike other years, there is hardly any challenge in managing the crowd.”

Pandal-hoppers who ventured out in their cars chose not to stop at any of the pandals and stand in any queue, however small that be.

Visitors at the Shibmandir puja pandal on Saptami afternoon. Gautam Bose

A few who walked in expressed surprise at the new experience — possibly for the first time they did not have to wait in a serpentine queue or wade through a crushing crowd to enter a big pandal.

“We had expected at least some crowd on Saptami afternoon. There were only a handful of people. We could float in and out without any trouble,” said Sanchari Bhattacharya at the College Square puja pandal.

A puja committee member at College Square said they weren't expecting the usual crowd since suburban trains were not running but such a poor turnout was beyond their expectation.
Across parts of south Calcutta the crowd mostly remained confined to their neighbourhoods. Most senior citizens did not step out as a precaution against the coronavirus.

Across most pandals the morning anjali was a low-scale affair. People offering anjali stood in circles drawn for them beyond the 10-metre barricade to maintain a safe distance among themselves.

At Mudiali, there were some visitors in the afternoon, their faces covered with masks. The visitors stopped at the barricade set up at a distance of 10 metre from the idol.

Some clicked pictures, while most took a quick U-turn.

At Badamtala Ashar Sangha, organisers said the footfall picked up a bit in the evening but that was nothing compared with what they had
expected.

“Compared to Thursday, the number of visitors was just a little higher. But we had expected much more. Our volunteers had no problem managing the crowd even though there were police,” said Sandip Chakrabarty, of the puja committee.

At the Chetla Agrani Sangha puja, the number of police and volunteers outnumbered that of the visitors. The puja organisers — urban development minister Firhad Hakim is among them — ensured that no one walked in without their faces properly covered by masks. Those who had their masks on their chins were asked to pull them up.

This time Lalbazar had decided to deploy two policemen at each puja pandal to ensure that the high court directive — barring entry into pandals — is strictly adhered to.

An additional force was drawn up to manage the crowd. By Friday, a part of this force was withdrawn as streets witnessed a low crowd count across the city. Some of the pujas had an officer of the rank of inspector and a handful personnel outside their pandals. Assistant commissioners of police were asked to “cover” a cluster comprising a few big-ticket pujas in each area.

“We have withdrawn some force keeping in mind the number of people who are either suffering from Covid-19 or have just recovered,” said a senior police officer. “The force for managing traffic has been kept more or less the same with nearly 6,000 cops on the roads.”
Salt Lake and parts of Dum Dum and Lake Town were no different from Calcutta. Most roads and lanes wore a deserted look throughout Friday.

Ankita Bhowmick, a Salt Lake resident, said was taken by surprise when she could walk right up to the pandal of the Dum Dum Park Barat Chakra without standing in any queue.

“There were a few people but we could reach the pandal with ease. However, there was signage all over asking visitors not to enter. Policemen posted near a guardrail blocking the entrance said we would not be allowed inside,” said Bhowmick.

For Kasba resident J. Monani, a visit to FD Park in Salt Lake proved disappointing. He said his son wanted to visit the pandal as it is built on the Jungle Book theme and he could see it from a distance on Saptami afternoon. However, in the evening when he revisited it, they found all entry points blocked by police for cars.
At Sreebhumi, policemen posted on VIP Road were spotted asking pandal-hoppers to move on as they would not be allowed to enter. “We are not allowing people to go inside the pandal. But many are coming anyway to see the decorative lights and are stopping,” said a policeman posted on VIP Road.