Durga Puja coming in the tail-end of monsoon this year has put capital Puja committees a damp spot, literally, but civic body Ranchi Municipal Corporation isn't doing much.
The capital will host around 150 community Durga Pujas this year.
About 100 Puja committee members on Tuesday morning came to RMC office discuss basic issues like squelch on pandal grounds, streetlights, water supply and mobile toilets with municipal commissioner Shantanu Kumar Agrahari.
When they found out Agrahari had to go high court, despite mayor Asha Lakra's offer to sit and hear out their problems, some 90 organisers left. Only 10 remained to appraise Lakra of the problems.
Later in the evening, state urban development minister C.P. Singh directed municipal commissioner to hold a meeting on Wednesday with Puja organisers.
Munchun Rai, president of Zilla Durga Puja Samiti Zilla Durga Puja Samiti, who was among those who did not stay back to speak to the mayor, later told The Telegraph that RMC had no sense of urgency despite Pujas starting from September 26. "The biggest problem is marshy land due to excessive rain. Why isn't RMC putting sand and ash on wet grounds? Cleanliness drives near pandals haven't started," he said.
He added, "Defunct streetlights haven't been replaced. RMC has told us nothing about our petitions for 24/7 water supply through tankers and mobile toilets for women pandal-hoppers."
Rajiv Mishra, another Puja committee functionary, said blind streetlights at Bakri Bazar and a stretch of Birsa Chowk up to Dhurwa had to be replaced. "But, RMC team has not visited even a single pandal," he said.
Divine donation
Panch Mandir Durga Puja Samiti, which has been organising Durga Puja at Ranchi's Harmu Housing Colony for the last 51 years, will hold a blood donation camp in association with Lions Club on Mahalaya, September 19.
Samiti convener Pradeep Agrawal, councillor of RMC ward 29, said this was the first time the committee was organising such a camp and the units collected would be kept at Nagarmal Modi Seva Sadan blood bank."Getting money for celebrations is easy, but collecting blood is a different matter."
Alok Sinha, Puja committee member, added that their pandal would look like a ship.
