All the four days of Durga Puja were reeling under searing heat wave with humidty level going up to an unbearable level. Yet, thousands of people braved the heat wave and joined the celebration full of enthusiasm and religious fervour and eclat. Covid threat or government restrictions notwithstanding pandal hopping and crwoding the eateries across the cities were in full swing.
Puja this year passed off peacefully with no untowrd incident being reported from anywhere and people were free to enjoy the festival to the fullest. There were however eight unfortunate incidents of accidental deaths across the state in separate incidents.Devotees took part in rituals and offered puja in pandals in the morning while revelers in large numbers ventured out in the evening and continued pandal hopping till late night.
Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb along with his wife Niti Deb inaugurated a series of Durga Puja in Agartala on Sashthi. He and Niti Deb continued to visit and offer prayers in Puja Pandals at Agartala on Saptami also. They also visited puja Pandals at Belonia, Sabroom and Udaipur. He also offered puja at Tripureswari Temple. He hailed the club authorities for shunning the practice of collecting donations forcibly and urged people to step forward in conserving natural resources.
MoS for Union Social Welfare and Empowerment Pratima Bhoumik also visited several puja pandals including pandals at Belonia.
Overcoming the Covid scare, people in Agartala as well as in districts and sub-divisions participated in puja and pandal hopping. The 183 years old Durga Bari Puja in Agartala drew a massive crowd during the five-day celebration. Devotees offered Anjali to Ma Durga on the auspicious Ashtami tithi. However, due to covid threat, the famous Kumari Puja at Dhaleswar RK Mission Ashram was not performed for the second successive year.
Vijaya Dasami and immersion of Durga Puja in the State also passed off peacefully without any major incidents. On Vijaya Dashami, the Chief Minister made a courtesy call to the Governor while several individuals met Deb and exchanged greetings.
Amidst all-pervading jovial mood, at least six persons died in road mishaps in the State. On the day of Saptami (Tuesday), three persons including a woman were killed after a Maruti car lost control and fell on 250-ft deep gorge at 43 mile under Atharomura under Mungiyakami. In the accident, two persons sustained grievous injuries.
In another tragic incident, one puja reveler, Sourajit Shil Sharma (23) of Hrishyamukh in Belonia succumbed to his injuries on Friday after a speeding bike slammed him on Navami (Thursday) night. In this case, relatives of the deceased alleged negligence of the in-charge doctor led to the death of Sharma.
On Navami morning, one Nirmal Debbarma (24) died in a bike accident at Talukdar Bari area under Khowai while he was traveling to Tulashikhar from his residence at Sama Bahadur Para.
One brick-laden truck plunged into a pond at Konabon area and overturned. One of the brick kiln workers was fatally injured after being buried under the bricks. He later died at GB Hospital. Even as the identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained, it was learnt, he hailed from Bihar. Meanwhile, as the fuel from the truck spilled over and mixed with the pond water, pond owner Nani Debbarma is facing a risk of loss of fish of worth Rs 1 lakh.
