News Mania / Piyal Chatterjee / 9th October 2024
This year’s Durga Puja celebrations coincide with ongoing doctor protests over the rape and death of a junior colleague at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, which the Kolkata Police are expecting to be a difficult season.
With 2,905 Puja events planned in the city, 248 of which are big events, the police face a difficult task in safeguarding the safety of protestors as well as devotees.The police have announced preparations to divert traffic on major thoroughfares, such as CR Avenue, JL Nehru Road, College Street, and SC Mullick Road, in order to reduce the possibility of mayhem. According to an official, the implementation of these detours will depend on the amount of traffic and the ferocity of the protests.
Additionally, parking is prohibited on Strand Bank Road between Sovabazar Street and DC Banerjee Road, as well as in certain areas of Bidhan Sarani and SC Mullick Road, according to traffic police.
These steps are intended to reduce traffic and make it easier for cars to move about over the holiday season. Starting on Monday, around 10,000 police officers—including 4300 members of the traffic wing—were stationed throughout the city, and 36 deputy commissioner of police-rank officials were tasked with keeping an eye on the situation on the ground. In addition, 58 monitoring towers have been constructed in the vicinity of significant pujas, and drones will be used for aerial observation. At each ferry ghat, teams from the Disaster Management Group (DMG) and River Traffic Police will be stationed to keep an eye on the waterways .
116 immediate response teams will also be sent out.In addition to thirty ambulances placed around huge puja tents, police pickets have been erected at 200 locations. Nearly all significant locations will have female police officers on duty, and cars will be checked in order to protect women. Officers wearing plainclothes will be stationed in marketplaces and other busy areas, while professionals from the intelligence and special branch have been asked to stay vigilant.
Additionally, from October 7 to 9, special office-time traffic arrangements will be in effect. Important crossing places have been identified, including the intersection of Muktaram Babu Street and CR Avenue, Rashbehari, Behala 14 number, Sovabazar, Sealdah station and Santosh Mitra Square and College Street zones, and New Alipore and Chetla zone.
For efficient crowd control, the police have erected barricades on both sides of BB Ganguly Street and Amherst Street in central Kolkata. “Everything is ready,” Commissioner of Police Manoj Verma declared at the introduction of a reference map for the puja attendees. We are hoping that everything runs smoothly during the Durga Pujas.
On October 2, doctors and members of civil society staged a large-scale protest in the city in honor of the Mahalaya festival.On the highways from Chaturthi, 5,200 temporary house guards will also be stationed. During the holiday season, the public is being urged by the authorities to abide by traffic laws and security protocols.
In the meantime, the Durga Puja Parikrama dashboard and app have been released by the Bidhannagar Police. On these, users can get real-time information on crowds and how long it will take to finish darshans. They can also find parking spaces, report a missing individual, or use a mobile device.
