Bhubaneswar: With the end of Dussehra in the city, the Goddess Durga bid adieu to the city amid much fanfare as processions from several pandals Saturday thronged the immersion sites to immerse the idols of the goddess.
Several devotees and organisers were Saturday seen taking the goddess idols from their pandals to immersion sites and mark the end of the festival season. Several small scale pandal idols were immersed in the early hours of the day while late in the evening big idols were led for the procession.
A number of idol immersion this year witnessed eco-friendly disposal as they thronged the special immersion sites carved out by the government to ensure an alternative ways to avert the damages caused to free flowing rivers due to rampant immersion of idols into it.
Several idols were Saturday immersed at special immersion sites near Kuakhai river, Daya river and Tankapani road constructed by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC). Four immersion sites which included two juxtaposed to the Kuakhai river, one each near Tankapani road and Daya river catered to the needs of the idol immersion in a eco-friendly way.
While the immersion started early near Kuakhai and Tankapani, the Daya bridge immersion near Lingipur area started during late evening hours. BMC Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena, Twin City Police Commissioner Satyajit Mohanty, Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Sahoo and other senior police and BMC officials and engineers were present at the Kuakhai site for the smooth operation of the immersion ponds.
The local government in the city also experimenting roping in crane services to lift the idols of goddesses and immerse it into the water. Executive Engineer (Division-I) of BMC PSN Patro said, “Earlier the immersion was done in the usual way and in the process the various body parts of the idols were broken. This year, the crane helped the Puja organisers to lift the heavy idols and place them inside the largest immersion pond at Kuakhai, which is nearly 8,000 square feet in size.’’
At Kuakhai the second immersion pond was nearly 3,000 square feet in size. Similarly, the two others along Daya river, one near Tankapani bridge was of 4,582 square feet and the other near Daya river along Puri highway was of 2,784 square feet respectively.