Pandu Ghat on the Brahmaputra has gained a distinct identity among the public as one of Guwahati’s major immersion sites. This is because the disciplined manner in which Durga idols are immersed at Pandu Ghat is incomparable. Every year, a competition is held here to judge which committee carries out the immersion in the most disciplined manner. Alongside, competitions are organized in various other categories and the celebration committees are awarded with cash prizes accordingly.
Notably, unlike other ghats where immersion is done in one day, at Pandu Ghat the immersion is carried out over two days – on Vijaya Dashami and the following day. According to Pandu Ghat Visarjan Committee President Nimai Chandra Das, Working President Shyamal Bhattacharjee and General Secretary Dwijen Lahkar, this time 112 Durga Puja celebration committees from greater Pandu-Maligaon and different parts of Guwahati immersed their idols here. Of these, 77 idols were immersed till midnight on Vijaya Dashami on 21st October, and 35 idols till midnight on the next day.
Meanwhile, noted social worker of Pandu-Maligaon area Sudesh Kumar Jain (Munna Bhai) earned huge appreciation from the public by supplying bottles of pure drinking water to thousands of devotees present there on both days.
On the evening of Vijaya Dashami on 21st October, local MLA and Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma arrived at Pandu Ghat at 7:30 pm and witnessed the idol immersion for almost an hour, besides interacting with the office bearers of the Pandu Ghat Visarjan Committee and the devotees who had come for immersion.
On the other hand, Kamrup Metro District Commissioner Swapnil Pal along with district administration and Guwahati Police Commissioner Dr. Partha Sarathi Mahanta and other senior officials visited Pandu Ghat to monitor the immersion. Even the Deputy Commissioner of Police of Guwahati West, Balin Deuri, Jalukbari Co-District Superintendent of Police Maitreyee Deka and Officer-in-Charge of Jalukbari Police Station Amrit Kumar Singh were seen supervising the immersion along with a team of police at Pandu Ghat on both days.
It may be mentioned that on both days the immersion was completed peacefully with the joint efforts of the police and volunteers of the Pandu Ghat Visarjan Committee.
