Preparations afoot for Durga Puja celebration in Ctg

All preparations have been completed for the celebration of the Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of the Bangalee Hindu community, from 9 October in the city as elsewhere in the district, with due religious fervour and enthusiasm.

Sources at District Puja Udjapan Parishad said the Durga Puja festival will begin on 9 October with the performance of Moha Sashthi Puja and conclude on 13 October through immersion of idols of Goddess Durga and other deities in different water bodies in the port city and its adjacent upazilas of the district after Bijaya Dashomi celebration.

Talking to BSS, leader of Chattogram District Puja Udjapon Parisad Shyamol Kumar Palit said over 2,452 Durga Puja mandaps, including 260 in the port city, have been erected in all 14 upazilas of the district and 15 thanas under Chattogram City Corporation this year.

Artists and idol-makers are spending busy time making idols of the Goddess Durga, he said.

"Erection of idols of goddess Durga has also been completed, but painting and polishing is being done in the district," Palit said.

Lion Ashis Bhatacharzee, leader of Chattogram City Puja Udjapon Parisad, said a total of 260 mandaps have been set up in Chattogram city.

Sources at the Power Development Board of Chattogram told BSS that the authority has taken initiatives to provide uninterrupted power supply to the puja mandaps so that the devotees can offer their worship with proper religious rituals.

Additional Superintendent of Police Chattogram Sudipto Sharma said the police administration has already taken three-tier security measures in and around all the mandaps for a smooth celebration of the festival.
 
Tariq Aziz, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP), said police will make a three-tier security arrangement at all 2,452 mandaps during the festival.

Over 3,500 members of law enforcement agencies will be deployed to strengthen security measures for the peaceful celebration of Durga Puja in the district, he said.

The CMP authority will also set up a control room to monitor the law-and-order situation in all the Puja mandaps, he added.
Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanom said necessary measures have been taken to provide tight security during the celebration.

The government has already allocated 1,225 metric tons of rice to 2,452 puja mandaps in Chattogram city and district.