Puja fun might go down the drain this year, and quite literally so. As Ranchi gets in the festive mood with Durga Puja celebrations little more than a week away, street sides, dug up for drain construction work in the city, are threatening to put pandal-hoppers in serious hurt.
More than 150 puja pandals, grand and humble both, are erected at various locations in the city and visited by lakhs of devotees. The Road Construction department dug channels for constructing drains along several streets in Ranchi around three months ago.
The sluggish work progress so far guarantees that they will remain dug even during the festivities. Some of these streets, including Ratu Road, Kutchery Road, Harmu Bypass Road, Birsa Chowk and others, register immense footfall during Durga Puja.
"Unlike previous years, we have not been hindered by rains while erecting pandals, and work would have continued smoothly, if not for the unfinished drains. Workers at certain pandals in Hinoo and Ratu Road are facing troubles in putting up structures due to trenches filled with dirty water, actually meant for drains," said Munchun Roy, president of Ranchi Mahanagar Shri Durga Puja Samiti.
The organisers, expecting devotees to turn up in huge numbers, are also anticipating an untowardly incident. "like previous years, we expect lakhs of devotees to be on the streets during the last four days of Durga Puja. With a crowd this extensive in nature, it will be difficult to prevent accidents during night time, when the crowd is the thickest," said Roy.
The administration also has turned a deaf ear to the problem, organisers complained. "Previously, city administration used to dump stone dust to fill any ditches ahead of Durga Puja. But no arrangements were made to cover the open drains. The funds we have barely cover our own expenses, it is impossible to carry out additional works like this," Roy said.
On arrangements to prevent such accidents, RCD Engineer-in-Chief assured, "We will cover the open drains as soon as possible before Durga Puja and stop any and all construction work. No work will be started or continued while the festival lasts.
"let us see how sincerely Govt bodies attend to this matter, Roy exclaimed. Additionally, Ranchi Municipal Corporation is also planning to install lED street lamps before Durga Puja, which might be a brief reprieve from the open drains.