Jamshedpur: With almost every household organising Saraswati Puja, the idol-makers in Jamshedpur and adjoining Adityapur are looking forward to doing brisk business during this festival after facing months of hardship owing to the lockdown.
The traders are, however, not being unrealistic about their expectations since they know that sales this time will not be like the ones witnessed in previous years as people are scaling down their festive budgets in the wake of pay cuts and job loss. But besides households, the presence of puja committees in almost every locality is keeping the idol-makers’ hopes up. “Unlike Durga Puja which requires planning months ahead of the festival and a high budget, organising Saraswati Puja does not require much and you can make all the arrangements, including buying the idol, the day before the festival,” Gamharia-based idol-maker Ashok Maity said.
Another trader named Laxman Kumbhkar said that last-minute sale of idols is expected to pick up in the evening and it’ll continue till Tuesday morning. “This puja is organized more in suburban and rural areas of Kolhan region than the urban areas,” he added.
Meanwhile, the cops at Kovali, Patamda and Kamalpur police stations in Potka and Patamda blocks held meetings with members of the local peace and puja committee volunteers on Sunday and on Monday to remind them to abide by social distancing norms, besides wearing masks at their respective premises.
Kamalpur police station in-charge Vijay Kumar Singh said, “Puja committee volunteers have been asked not to play loud music and not to take out immersion processions.”
The puja committee volunteers said that even though the daily count of the Covid cases have come down substantially, they will abide by the safety guidelines at the pandals. “The festival will be held in a restraint manner with small pandal and idol,” said Rinku Mukhi, who is a member of Maa Saraswati Maa Kali Sarvajanik puja committee at Thakar Bappa Basti in Bistupur.
Meanwhile, the district police have increased patrolling and deployed forces in the markets of Sakchi, Bistupur, Kadma, Jugsalai and Sidhgora, among others, to keep eye on miscreants.