New Delhi, The chairman of the Works Committee of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) Jagdish Mamgain on Monday said that illegal constructions are mushrooming on the Yamuna riverbed and that the Delhi government should direct its departments to stop them instead of blaming MCD.
While
providing pictorial evidence, Mamgain said it was a matter of concern that illegal encroachments and constructions were continuing on the Yamuna riverbed and that the government seems least bothered. "Whenever any incident happens due to illegal construction, the Delhi CM and her colleagues pass the buck on to MCD. Preventive measures and strong action against the law violators is better than trading changes later. Flood department should conduct a survey about the status of river Yamuna and its bed," said Mamgain.
He added that no construction should be allowed at least up to the danger area. The DND road may be taken on priority as maximum illegal activities are undergoing on it.
Alleging that it shows the insensitivity towards protection of natural resources, which may cause environmental hazard, Mamgain said, "Starting from Noida to Delhi and onwards, a number of buildings including pucca buildings are being raised and all these structures are going to be completed soon. I am surprised how builders managed to build without attracting any one's attention," he said.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
A unique initiative for community empowerment (Time of India 10 October 2011)
The youth of Nagla Banjara village in Bharatpur, Rajasthan have taken up street vending with help from the Lupin Foundation. –Photo: Rohit Jain Paras
Jaipur: Through utilisation of existing resources, a large number of street vendors at Nagla Banjara village in Nadbai teshil of Bharatpur district have been helped out to expand their business, construct houses and send their children to school.
The residents of the small Nagla Banjara village, situated near Antara on the Agra-Bikaner National Highway, are traditionally known in eastern Rajasthan as “Pheri Wallas” (street vendors). They travel to far-off villages and sell items of daily use mostly on bicycles and handcarts.
The village has about 100 households mostly of the people belonging to the Banjara (nomad) clan. They were earlier engaged in buying and selling of the cattle used in agricultural farms, but their utility ended after the advent of mechanisation in the agriculture sector. For several years now, they have taken up street vending as their principal vocation.
The Banjaras travel to the rural areas not just in Rajasthan but also in the States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and Haryana, where they have been earning good profits by selling different kinds of commodities.
For street vending, they bring the goods such as utensils, wooden and metal items and cosmetic products from the cities and sell them in the villages. In the absence of adequate capital, they had to travel earlier to the cities over and over again for buying the merchandise.
Sixty per cent of the villagers are engaged in street vending, while the rest work as farm labourers to earn their livelihood, as they do not own any agricultural land. Women rear the cattle to supplement the family income. On any given day, one can only find old people, women and children in the village during the day, while the youths venture out for vending.
On the development front, 80 per cent of the families in Nagla Banjara did not have a brick house till about a year ago and most of them were staying in the huts with thatched roof and sheds erected on pasture land. Barely 20 to 30 persons were literate, even though there is a primary school in the village.
The Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation – the corporate social responsibility wing of pharmaceutical major Lupin – adopted Nagla Banjara about a year ago with the intention of launching all-round development works for benefiting the local population.
The first task it took up was getting loans of Rs.25,000 each to 53 persons from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for construction of brick houses to replace the huts and sheds. Ten other households were helped out in getting financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Below Poverty Line Housing Scheme.
According to Lupin Foundation Executive Director Sita Ram Gupta here, brick houses are being constructed at a fast pace in the village and many of the dusty pathways have been converted into regular roads by utilising the MP's Local Area Development Fund.
The Lupin Foundation laid emphasis on revamping of street vending as an existing resource for livelihood. It gave loans of Rs.20,000 each on easy terms to 78 youths for purchasing items for selling and gave training for fabrication of metal chains to 10 women in the village. Three others were provided with the buffaloes of the improved ‘Murra' breed.
Mr. Gupta points out that the people in the village have now understood the significance of education, as it helps and provides expertise even in a work like street vending. Attempts are underway to bring the out-of-school children to new education centres.
The State Government has since joined the efforts of Lupin Foundation to ensure the village's development and installed separate drinking water tanks for human and cattle consumption. Besides, the youths belonging to BPL families are being trained under the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana for working as security guards.
Having got information about the Government's welfare schemes, the villagers now approach the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions for getting their benefits. The sustained year-long efforts have seemingly ensured the nondescript village's march on the road to progress and prosperity.
The villagers' empowerment along with the creation of new livelihood opportunities has generated a model for others for taking similar initiatives, he says.
Jaipur: Through utilisation of existing resources, a large number of street vendors at Nagla Banjara village in Nadbai teshil of Bharatpur district have been helped out to expand their business, construct houses and send their children to school.
The residents of the small Nagla Banjara village, situated near Antara on the Agra-Bikaner National Highway, are traditionally known in eastern Rajasthan as “Pheri Wallas” (street vendors). They travel to far-off villages and sell items of daily use mostly on bicycles and handcarts.
The village has about 100 households mostly of the people belonging to the Banjara (nomad) clan. They were earlier engaged in buying and selling of the cattle used in agricultural farms, but their utility ended after the advent of mechanisation in the agriculture sector. For several years now, they have taken up street vending as their principal vocation.
The Banjaras travel to the rural areas not just in Rajasthan but also in the States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and Haryana, where they have been earning good profits by selling different kinds of commodities.
For street vending, they bring the goods such as utensils, wooden and metal items and cosmetic products from the cities and sell them in the villages. In the absence of adequate capital, they had to travel earlier to the cities over and over again for buying the merchandise.
Sixty per cent of the villagers are engaged in street vending, while the rest work as farm labourers to earn their livelihood, as they do not own any agricultural land. Women rear the cattle to supplement the family income. On any given day, one can only find old people, women and children in the village during the day, while the youths venture out for vending.
On the development front, 80 per cent of the families in Nagla Banjara did not have a brick house till about a year ago and most of them were staying in the huts with thatched roof and sheds erected on pasture land. Barely 20 to 30 persons were literate, even though there is a primary school in the village.
The Lupin Human Welfare and Research Foundation – the corporate social responsibility wing of pharmaceutical major Lupin – adopted Nagla Banjara about a year ago with the intention of launching all-round development works for benefiting the local population.
The first task it took up was getting loans of Rs.25,000 each to 53 persons from the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for construction of brick houses to replace the huts and sheds. Ten other households were helped out in getting financial assistance from the Chief Minister's Below Poverty Line Housing Scheme.
According to Lupin Foundation Executive Director Sita Ram Gupta here, brick houses are being constructed at a fast pace in the village and many of the dusty pathways have been converted into regular roads by utilising the MP's Local Area Development Fund.
The Lupin Foundation laid emphasis on revamping of street vending as an existing resource for livelihood. It gave loans of Rs.20,000 each on easy terms to 78 youths for purchasing items for selling and gave training for fabrication of metal chains to 10 women in the village. Three others were provided with the buffaloes of the improved ‘Murra' breed.
Mr. Gupta points out that the people in the village have now understood the significance of education, as it helps and provides expertise even in a work like street vending. Attempts are underway to bring the out-of-school children to new education centres.
The State Government has since joined the efforts of Lupin Foundation to ensure the village's development and installed separate drinking water tanks for human and cattle consumption. Besides, the youths belonging to BPL families are being trained under the Swarna Jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana for working as security guards.
Having got information about the Government's welfare schemes, the villagers now approach the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions for getting their benefits. The sustained year-long efforts have seemingly ensured the nondescript village's march on the road to progress and prosperity.
The villagers' empowerment along with the creation of new livelihood opportunities has generated a model for others for taking similar initiatives, he says.
Brace for power cuts as plants are low on coal, water (Time of India 10 October 2011)
TNN Oct 10, 2011, 05.54AM IST
Tags: i) power generation at BTPS ii) power cuts in delhi
NEW DELHI: City may have to reel under power cuts on Monday if coal shortage continues to hit power plants. Delhi received up to 1,000 MW less power on Sunday leading to load shedding in many areas; but no crisis situation arose due to less demand as it was a holiday.
While the units at NTPC's plants at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Farakka in West Bengal and Kahalgaon in Bihar were already producing less power due to shortage of coal and wet coal, fewer water supply from the Agra Canal led to a shortfall in supply from the Badarpur plant on Sunday. Discoms have warned that load shedding may have to be intensified on Monday when demand rises.
"Due to further reduction in power generation at BTPS, supply to Delhi fell short by as much as 1,000 MW for certain periods on Sunday. The impact wasn't pronounced it being a Sunday, but we may have to resort to load shedding on a rotational basis on Monday if the problem is not sorted out. There will be an obvious increase in power demand on a working day," said a discom official. The peak load on Sunday was 3,526 MW which was about 200 MW less than what it was on Saturday. According to Transco, the load shedding was to the tune of 270 MW on Sunday.
"Due to shortage of water used for cooling and also technical snags, generating stations in the city, including BTPS and Rajghat, were cumulatively producing around 410 MW less power. They normally supply around 1,100 MW to Delhi," a discom official said. Sources said the city received only 800 MW power from the Dadri plant even though its quota is 1,400 MW. The power plants have been cutting down on their generation for nearly a week due to inadequate supply of coal.
Incessant rain in the east has severely hit mining and loading of coal due to which discoms have been overdrawing from the Northern Grid. Last week, load shedding in the city had to be increased to maintain grid frequency. As per Delhi government sources, neighbouring states were heavily overdrawing from the Grid. According to discoms, they cannot arrange to buy power from other sources for the time being as power supply has been hit in other parts of the country, too.
"This problem is beyond our control. All states are overdrawing due to coal shortage. Where is the power to buy?" an official said. Delhi government has also written to NTPC, requesting restoration of full supply to the city.
Tags: i) power generation at BTPS ii) power cuts in delhi
NEW DELHI: City may have to reel under power cuts on Monday if coal shortage continues to hit power plants. Delhi received up to 1,000 MW less power on Sunday leading to load shedding in many areas; but no crisis situation arose due to less demand as it was a holiday.
While the units at NTPC's plants at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh, Farakka in West Bengal and Kahalgaon in Bihar were already producing less power due to shortage of coal and wet coal, fewer water supply from the Agra Canal led to a shortfall in supply from the Badarpur plant on Sunday. Discoms have warned that load shedding may have to be intensified on Monday when demand rises.
"Due to further reduction in power generation at BTPS, supply to Delhi fell short by as much as 1,000 MW for certain periods on Sunday. The impact wasn't pronounced it being a Sunday, but we may have to resort to load shedding on a rotational basis on Monday if the problem is not sorted out. There will be an obvious increase in power demand on a working day," said a discom official. The peak load on Sunday was 3,526 MW which was about 200 MW less than what it was on Saturday. According to Transco, the load shedding was to the tune of 270 MW on Sunday.
"Due to shortage of water used for cooling and also technical snags, generating stations in the city, including BTPS and Rajghat, were cumulatively producing around 410 MW less power. They normally supply around 1,100 MW to Delhi," a discom official said. Sources said the city received only 800 MW power from the Dadri plant even though its quota is 1,400 MW. The power plants have been cutting down on their generation for nearly a week due to inadequate supply of coal.
Incessant rain in the east has severely hit mining and loading of coal due to which discoms have been overdrawing from the Northern Grid. Last week, load shedding in the city had to be increased to maintain grid frequency. As per Delhi government sources, neighbouring states were heavily overdrawing from the Grid. According to discoms, they cannot arrange to buy power from other sources for the time being as power supply has been hit in other parts of the country, too.
"This problem is beyond our control. All states are overdrawing due to coal shortage. Where is the power to buy?" an official said. Delhi government has also written to NTPC, requesting restoration of full supply to the city.
Puja flowers to give Holi colour (Time of India 09 October 2011)
Ambika Pandit, TNN Oct 9, 2011, 04.33AM IST
Tags: i) floral tributes ii) Durga puja
NEW DELHI: Floral tributes paid to goddess Durga on Vijaya Dashami are benefitting the under-privileged in the city. Volunteers of different NGOs have salvaged nearly six tonnes of flowers from the banks of the Yamuna after the visarjan (idol immersion) held on Thursday to mark the end of Durga Puja.
Eco-friendly colours will be made from these flowers and sold during Holi, thereby serving as a means of livelihood for hundreds of differently-abled people.
Dr Madhumita Puri, who leads a project called 'From Trash to Cash' and coordinated the flower collection exercise at the enclosures set up along the river banks, said: "The flowers have been collected under the banner of 'Avacayam', a project by virtue of which volunteers collect waste flowers. About six tonnes flowers were collected from Kalindi Kunj, Qudsia Ghat, Geeta Ghat and Jagatpur."
She added: "The response was better than last year when we managed to collect flowers from only one ghat. But this is smaller than what I was hoping to collect: about 12 tonnes. To build awareness among people a wider and more focused campaign is required.
"People need to be informed and requested to put aside puja offerings like flowers before the immersion of the idol so that they can be recycled for a cause.
"From next time, the campaign for an eco-friendly visarjan must be organized much before the puja celebrations begin. Building awareness during the festivities when everyone is too busy with the celebrations does not have that big an impact," she said.
The state environment department has proposed to issue an advisory to all puja organizers next year.
This, they hope, will generate awareness among puja organizers to make idol immersion more eco-friendly. The advisory will talk about prevention of river pollution and how puja offerings like flowers can be recycled and put to better use.
"Our volunteers collect nearly 500 kg of flowers every day from temples. In this, they are aided by 20 other NGOs, who collect at least 100 kg of flowers every day. The flowers are then cleaned, cut, dried and converted into natural colours by differently-abled people," said Puri, who coordinates the Avacayam project round the year.
Tags: i) floral tributes ii) Durga puja
NEW DELHI: Floral tributes paid to goddess Durga on Vijaya Dashami are benefitting the under-privileged in the city. Volunteers of different NGOs have salvaged nearly six tonnes of flowers from the banks of the Yamuna after the visarjan (idol immersion) held on Thursday to mark the end of Durga Puja.
Eco-friendly colours will be made from these flowers and sold during Holi, thereby serving as a means of livelihood for hundreds of differently-abled people.
Dr Madhumita Puri, who leads a project called 'From Trash to Cash' and coordinated the flower collection exercise at the enclosures set up along the river banks, said: "The flowers have been collected under the banner of 'Avacayam', a project by virtue of which volunteers collect waste flowers. About six tonnes flowers were collected from Kalindi Kunj, Qudsia Ghat, Geeta Ghat and Jagatpur."
She added: "The response was better than last year when we managed to collect flowers from only one ghat. But this is smaller than what I was hoping to collect: about 12 tonnes. To build awareness among people a wider and more focused campaign is required.
"People need to be informed and requested to put aside puja offerings like flowers before the immersion of the idol so that they can be recycled for a cause.
"From next time, the campaign for an eco-friendly visarjan must be organized much before the puja celebrations begin. Building awareness during the festivities when everyone is too busy with the celebrations does not have that big an impact," she said.
The state environment department has proposed to issue an advisory to all puja organizers next year.
This, they hope, will generate awareness among puja organizers to make idol immersion more eco-friendly. The advisory will talk about prevention of river pollution and how puja offerings like flowers can be recycled and put to better use.
"Our volunteers collect nearly 500 kg of flowers every day from temples. In this, they are aided by 20 other NGOs, who collect at least 100 kg of flowers every day. The flowers are then cleaned, cut, dried and converted into natural colours by differently-abled people," said Puri, who coordinates the Avacayam project round the year.
Water resources minister seeks law akin to RTI (Time of India 09 October 2011)
Abantika Ghosh, TNN Oct 9, 2011, 01.21AM IST
Tags: i) RTI Act ii) ministry of water resources
NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the recent standing committee recommendations about putting water on the Concurrent List if not the Union List, the ministry of water resources is looking at a national framework law on the lines of the RTI Act to ensure state compliance on water conservation and pricing.
"The matter (of putting water on the Concurrent List or the Union List) will be taken up by the group of ministers soon. Our stand is clear. We need some say in the matter as leaving it to states is serving nobody's purpose. It's a politically sensitive issue and electoral concerns mean that tough measures like pricing are seldom implemented. But evolving a political consensus might be equally difficult. That's why we are looking at a national framework law. Once we get it passed with support from two or more states, other states will have to adopt it," said a senior official in the ministry of water resources.
The standing committee in its report on the augmentation of ground water had recommended: "Taking note of the recurrent disputes between certain states and regions over water sharing, the Committee hardly need to underline the need for evolving national planning development, conservation, exploitation and distribution of water in an equitable and sustainable manner...The Committee would urge the government to initiate steps in right earnest to strive to build national consensus to bring water either in the Union list of the concurrent list after due consultation with state governments."
The panel has asked the ministry to initiate a draft proposal on this at the earliest.
Senior ministry officials say that efforts are on to have a law in place by the start of the 12th Five Year plan. The law would have provisions for setting up of a water authority in each state - much like the State Information Commission under the RTI Act - and tackle issues like water pricing, where each state now has adopted a separate regime.
Lack of Central powers in the matter has led the ambitious river linking project hanging fire for many years. The first project, Ken-Betwa, is stuck over the inundation threat to the Panna Tiger Reserve. While Madhya Pradesh has withdrawn consent to the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal linking project, maintaining that it doesn't stand to benefit from it. "These are some of the things that would ease once there are more powers on water issues," said an official.
Tags: i) RTI Act ii) ministry of water resources
NEW DELHI: Buoyed by the recent standing committee recommendations about putting water on the Concurrent List if not the Union List, the ministry of water resources is looking at a national framework law on the lines of the RTI Act to ensure state compliance on water conservation and pricing.
"The matter (of putting water on the Concurrent List or the Union List) will be taken up by the group of ministers soon. Our stand is clear. We need some say in the matter as leaving it to states is serving nobody's purpose. It's a politically sensitive issue and electoral concerns mean that tough measures like pricing are seldom implemented. But evolving a political consensus might be equally difficult. That's why we are looking at a national framework law. Once we get it passed with support from two or more states, other states will have to adopt it," said a senior official in the ministry of water resources.
The standing committee in its report on the augmentation of ground water had recommended: "Taking note of the recurrent disputes between certain states and regions over water sharing, the Committee hardly need to underline the need for evolving national planning development, conservation, exploitation and distribution of water in an equitable and sustainable manner...The Committee would urge the government to initiate steps in right earnest to strive to build national consensus to bring water either in the Union list of the concurrent list after due consultation with state governments."
The panel has asked the ministry to initiate a draft proposal on this at the earliest.
Senior ministry officials say that efforts are on to have a law in place by the start of the 12th Five Year plan. The law would have provisions for setting up of a water authority in each state - much like the State Information Commission under the RTI Act - and tackle issues like water pricing, where each state now has adopted a separate regime.
Lack of Central powers in the matter has led the ambitious river linking project hanging fire for many years. The first project, Ken-Betwa, is stuck over the inundation threat to the Panna Tiger Reserve. While Madhya Pradesh has withdrawn consent to the Parbati-Kalisindh-Chambal linking project, maintaining that it doesn't stand to benefit from it. "These are some of the things that would ease once there are more powers on water issues," said an official.
Croat captures colour and emotion on banks (Time of India 07 October 2011)
Indrani Basu, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.22AM IST
New Delhi: As hundreds of devotees sang songs in praise of the Goddess Durga on Vijayadashami, Croatian documentary filmmaker Ljubica Jankovic Lazaric was busy capturing emotions on the Kalindi Kunj ghat. The well-known filmmaker has been busy recording the festival for the past four days in Delhi with her Lucknow-based camera person Ali and her friend Kartik, a Delhi-based interior and graphic designer who has been helping her communicate with locals.
"I am shooting a documentary on Delhi as seen through the four seasons and trying to capture those things in this city that change and that which remains constant. The personality of the city of Delhi is dynamic, with lots of things changing every day as it rushes to become a world-class city. Some of the changes will cause it to lose its uniqueness but things like Durga Puja and the festivities that surround it will remain a constant. Each year, the ghats are crowded with devotees and I am here to capture this excitement and activity," explained Lazaric to TOI.
Lazaric has been visiting different puja pandals in the city to catch the festive flavour. "The celebration of this festival marks the start of autumn in Delhi. I have been to the CR Park Mela Grounds where we captured the beautiful idol and the hundreds of people who visited the pandal. The entire immersion process has been equally beautiful. After this, I am also planning to shoot the Ramlila. The variety and vibrant environment of Delhi is infectious. Earlier, when I shot ten stories of India in Chennai, Rishikesh, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Ajmer and Varanasi among others and it was aired in Croatia, it became very popular. Now I want to focus on Delhi and its many moods through the year," said Lazaric.
The filmmaker first came to India six years ago when she shot brief episodes on Indian culture for Croatian television. Four years ago, she visited India again. This time, with a mission to capture multifaceted Delhi, Lazaric is shooting two documentaries on Delhi, one of them being Delhi through the seasons.
"Delhi has become a home to me and this film is a tribute to the city. When I leave, this will be my present," said the filmmaker, who is currently living in Noida. Lazaric, who studied at the University of Zagreb and is a member of Croatian Film Director's Guild, has directed more than 250 documentary films in countries such as Germany, Australia, USA, Italy, Albania, Iran, and India.
New Delhi: As hundreds of devotees sang songs in praise of the Goddess Durga on Vijayadashami, Croatian documentary filmmaker Ljubica Jankovic Lazaric was busy capturing emotions on the Kalindi Kunj ghat. The well-known filmmaker has been busy recording the festival for the past four days in Delhi with her Lucknow-based camera person Ali and her friend Kartik, a Delhi-based interior and graphic designer who has been helping her communicate with locals.
"I am shooting a documentary on Delhi as seen through the four seasons and trying to capture those things in this city that change and that which remains constant. The personality of the city of Delhi is dynamic, with lots of things changing every day as it rushes to become a world-class city. Some of the changes will cause it to lose its uniqueness but things like Durga Puja and the festivities that surround it will remain a constant. Each year, the ghats are crowded with devotees and I am here to capture this excitement and activity," explained Lazaric to TOI.
Lazaric has been visiting different puja pandals in the city to catch the festive flavour. "The celebration of this festival marks the start of autumn in Delhi. I have been to the CR Park Mela Grounds where we captured the beautiful idol and the hundreds of people who visited the pandal. The entire immersion process has been equally beautiful. After this, I am also planning to shoot the Ramlila. The variety and vibrant environment of Delhi is infectious. Earlier, when I shot ten stories of India in Chennai, Rishikesh, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Ajmer and Varanasi among others and it was aired in Croatia, it became very popular. Now I want to focus on Delhi and its many moods through the year," said Lazaric.
The filmmaker first came to India six years ago when she shot brief episodes on Indian culture for Croatian television. Four years ago, she visited India again. This time, with a mission to capture multifaceted Delhi, Lazaric is shooting two documentaries on Delhi, one of them being Delhi through the seasons.
"Delhi has become a home to me and this film is a tribute to the city. When I leave, this will be my present," said the filmmaker, who is currently living in Noida. Lazaric, who studied at the University of Zagreb and is a member of Croatian Film Director's Guild, has directed more than 250 documentary films in countries such as Germany, Australia, USA, Italy, Albania, Iran, and India.
Ghats packed with devotees as festival culminates with immersion of the deity (Time of India 07 October 2011)
Indrani Basu, TNN Oct 7, 2011, 05.26AM IST indrani.basu@timesgroup.com
Tags: South Delhi Joint Procession Committee
New Delhi: With unbridled enthusiasm, they danced to the fervent beat of drums and chanted Durga's name, before bidding adieu to their beloved goddess.
Four days of festivities culminated in Vijaya Dashami on Thursday as hundreds of devotees thronged the Yamuna ghats to immerse the idols.
The send-off was an elaborate affair, with men, women and children holding pots containing burning coconut husk and dancing in front of Durga's idols, in reverence to the goddess.
The immersion took place at four main ghats in the capital - Kalindi Kunj, Geeta Ghat, Kudsiya Ghat and Ramghat. The Kalindi Kunj ghat alone witnessed over 250 visarjans by various puja samitis from south Delhi, Dwarka, Mayur Vihar, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida among others. "We have 135 puja samitis who have registered for visarjan at Kalindi Kunj Ghat this year. There are over 150 unregistered puja samitis who also brought their idols for immersion here," said Anjan Mukherjee, member of South Delhi Joint Procession Committee.
"Friday onwards, we will go back to our normal routine. Until then we are pulling out all stops and singing and dancing to our heart's content. At least 50 to 60 people from our puja pandal have come to the Kalindi Kunj ghat," said Shubha Goswami of Sarita Vihar puja pandal.
Each puja committee brought their teams comprising of young and the elderly to carry the idols to the river for immersion. Spinning the idol thrice for good fortune, devotees waded into the river and bid the goddess farewell with a heavy heart, their eyes moist with tears as the idol drifted away. "Vijayadashami is a bittersweet day for us. We are sad to see Ma Durga drift away after four days of non-stop celebrations and excitement. Her immersion has left a void in the heart of the devotees. The only consolation is that everyone is aware of the fact that the goddess will return next year, to fill us with joy and colour," said Niharika Roy.
Members of many puja committees were seen sporting T-shirts specially printed for their respective puja samitis.
Ashoka Enclave Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee of Faridabad had a team of 70 people from various walks of life coming to the ghat for the visarjan. "The committee boasts of engineers, chartered accountants, IT professionals, advertising professionals and school teachers. We are 85 families who love to organize Durga Puja and celebrate together. We are a very close-knit community, and this is why everyone wants to come to the ghat," said puja samiti cultural secretary Arjun Sengupta.
Tags: South Delhi Joint Procession Committee
New Delhi: With unbridled enthusiasm, they danced to the fervent beat of drums and chanted Durga's name, before bidding adieu to their beloved goddess.
Four days of festivities culminated in Vijaya Dashami on Thursday as hundreds of devotees thronged the Yamuna ghats to immerse the idols.
The send-off was an elaborate affair, with men, women and children holding pots containing burning coconut husk and dancing in front of Durga's idols, in reverence to the goddess.
The immersion took place at four main ghats in the capital - Kalindi Kunj, Geeta Ghat, Kudsiya Ghat and Ramghat. The Kalindi Kunj ghat alone witnessed over 250 visarjans by various puja samitis from south Delhi, Dwarka, Mayur Vihar, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida among others. "We have 135 puja samitis who have registered for visarjan at Kalindi Kunj Ghat this year. There are over 150 unregistered puja samitis who also brought their idols for immersion here," said Anjan Mukherjee, member of South Delhi Joint Procession Committee.
"Friday onwards, we will go back to our normal routine. Until then we are pulling out all stops and singing and dancing to our heart's content. At least 50 to 60 people from our puja pandal have come to the Kalindi Kunj ghat," said Shubha Goswami of Sarita Vihar puja pandal.
Each puja committee brought their teams comprising of young and the elderly to carry the idols to the river for immersion. Spinning the idol thrice for good fortune, devotees waded into the river and bid the goddess farewell with a heavy heart, their eyes moist with tears as the idol drifted away. "Vijayadashami is a bittersweet day for us. We are sad to see Ma Durga drift away after four days of non-stop celebrations and excitement. Her immersion has left a void in the heart of the devotees. The only consolation is that everyone is aware of the fact that the goddess will return next year, to fill us with joy and colour," said Niharika Roy.
Members of many puja committees were seen sporting T-shirts specially printed for their respective puja samitis.
Ashoka Enclave Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee of Faridabad had a team of 70 people from various walks of life coming to the ghat for the visarjan. "The committee boasts of engineers, chartered accountants, IT professionals, advertising professionals and school teachers. We are 85 families who love to organize Durga Puja and celebrate together. We are a very close-knit community, and this is why everyone wants to come to the ghat," said puja samiti cultural secretary Arjun Sengupta.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)