Low-key Durga idol immersion in Ichamati river under COVID shadow

This was decided in a meeting between border guards of the two countries, West Bengal police and local civic body on Friday. The idol immersion in the midstream of the river, wherein puja committees from both India and Bangladesh take part, is a spectacular sight attracting thousands of tourists from West Bengal to Taki, the border town in North 24 Parganas district.

A district official said as per the arrangements, few members of the puja committees will be allowed to board small or large boats for immersion of the idol. He said no tourists will be allowed. While four Durga idols from Bangladesh are slated to be immersed during the event, around 40 idols of puja committees in Basirhat and Taki will be immersed by the Indian side, the official said. The COVID-19 situation had cast a shadow on the idol immersion at Ichamati, but various clubs made a strong appeal to the district authority to allow the practice albeit on a small scale.

The Friday's meeting also decided that all those taking part in the immersion should wear masks and carry sanitisers, the official said. At the meeting, BSF 153 Battalion in-charge Niraj Kumar, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) representative, Basirhat DSP Mohsin Akhtar and BDO Arindam Mukherjee, among others, were present.