Kolkata: In a much-needed relief to the artisans, the city remained mostly dry over the last five days. Amid the prevailing favourable condition, Kumartuli artisans have stepped up the work on Durga idols.Their work was disrupted due to incessant rain for about three to four days last week during the crucial final stages of idolmaking.The bylanes of Kumartuli are now bustling with the sounds of artisans as they put paints on the clay idols. It’s barely two weeks to Durga Puja and the dry weather is just in time.According to the artisans, several Puja committees are expected to start taking their idols to the pandals from this weekend, throwing up the challenge of a tight deadline. Persistent rain had forced artisans to shift several idols indoors, pausing their work.But now the idols are out in the open again. Plastic sheets that had enveloped the narrow bylanes vanished. “Last week, we have been able to make up for the lost time, thanks to the dry spell,” said Kartik Pal, secretary of the idolmakers’ cooperative. The artisans have also started adorning the idols with accessories and drapes.“We are trying to make the most of the dry and sunny weather while it lasts. We start early and work till late hours in the night to be able to complete the orders placed for idols before the deliveries begin,” said Mala Pal, another idolmaker in Kumartuli. While it rained, several artisans resorted to pedestal fans and blow torches to speed up drying. Puja committees have also paced up the pandal-making work.“We are praying that the weather remains dry and sunny till Durga Puja,” said Arijit Saha, secretary of the College Street Friends Circle puja committee, near Eden Hospital Road.
