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It may be too early to say what form and shape this year\u2019s Durga Puja-Lakshmi Puja-Kali Puja-Diwali-Jagaddhatri Puja season will take. But organisers should be prepared for high levels of disruption even if the situation improves remarkably. Proper planning and coordination between organisers and government agencies have become even more important this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of 40 labourers, we have 20 this time. They have been split into shifts, from 8am to 4pm and 4pm to 10pm,\u201d Jayanta Banerjee, secretary, Chorebagan Sarbojanin Durgotsav Samity, said. Echoed Rahul Shaw, member, Ajeya Sanghati club, \u201cThere is strict adherence to Covid-19 norms. Both idol-making and pandal works are on.\u201d The idols are less than 12ft so that sanitization and immersion become easier.
Traditionally, it\u2019s the Rathayatra that rings in the festivities with the \u2018khunti\u2019 or \u2018kathamo\u2019 (the wooden frame on which the idol is built) puja. For the last few years, several big-draw pujas, instead of waiting for the Rathayatra, were performing \u201ckathamo\u201d puja months ahead on the Bengali New Year in April. But the pandemic has changed everything.
Supriyo Chakraborty, general secretary, AE Part I Block Committee, said, \u201cRathayatra has gone. We need to begin sometime. We will hold \u2018khunti\u2019 puja on Sunday.\u201d Behala 11 Palli\u2019s \u2018khunti\u2019 puja is on August 15, while Aurobindo Setu Sarbojanin and Sreebhumi will hold \u2018khunti\u2019 pujas on Tuesday and next Sunday, respectively.
The pandemic made Ballygunge Cultural Association tweak their plans for \u2018khunti\u2019 puja on August 2. \u201cWe sponsored lunch for 40 kids of Universal Smile Home. That\u2019s how we celebrated our \u2018khunti\u2019 puja this year,\u201d said organizing secretary Saptarshi Basu.
\u201cThe ambience is anything but festive. We might make the pandal\u2019s parts in workshops and assemble sometime in September,\u201d said Hatibgan Sarbojonin\u2019s convener Saswata Basu. <\/div>\n