A Ganesh idol at a pandal at Sector-VIII in Rourkela. Students and youths celebrated Ganesh puja at schools, colleges and clubs across Rourkela. Students of many schools and colleges decorated their institutions to celebrate the occasion. Similarly, clubs run by youth associations here also organised the puja in a grand scale. Some clubs even claimed to have spent Rs 10 lakh to celebrate the festival. Over 100 puja pandals have been set up at Koel Nagar, Sector-VIII, Udit Nagar, Basanti Colony and many other places in the city. Bulu Mohanty of Basanti Colony Puja Committee said their budget for the puja was more than Rs 8 lakh. “Though a major chunk of the money has come through donations from club members and well-wishers, local residents have also chipped in,” said Mohanty. Similarly, the organisers of Sector-VIII Ganesh Puja said they had spent over Rs 4 lakh on the decoration of the pandal, which is an 80-feet replica of Khajuraho temple in Madhya Pradesh. “Besides, several competitions have been organised for the students,” said Barada Prasanna Das, advisor to the local organising committee. Police have made preparations for smooth traffic flow in the city during the festival. “Our men have been deployed at strategic places to manage traffic snarls likely to be created during evening hours,” said traffic in charge Ramesh Chandra Singh. Text by our correspondent; picture by Uttam Kumar Pal