By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Oct 21: During Durga Puja, devotees and pandal hoppers flock the different puja pandals in Guwahati. People jostle for space in the overcrowded pandals. In this mad rush of people in the pandals, old people and children often faint. A large number of road accidents also take place during the festival.
The NGO Rowane has decided to come to the aid of pandal hoppers. It has set up a first-aid camp at Swahid Uddayan in Chandmari which will provide preliminary medical aid during accidents and also provide drinking water to puja revellers.
The general secretary of the NGO, Jogesh Kalita said, “The camp has been set up for two days. Our main objective is to provide some respite to old people and children who might fall ill due to the heat and the rush. We will provide drinking water to people and first-aid to accident victims. We chose to set up the camp in Chandmari because there are around 5-6 puja pandals in this area and while facilities like drinking water and first-aid are provided by puja committees in other parts of the city, in Chandmari we do have such facilities, although it is a busy area, prone to accidents.”