The Jamshedpur Durga Puja Kendriya Samiti (JDPKS), the apex body which monitors Durga Puja celebrations in the steel city, on Monday asked Puja committees to ensure installation of CCTV cameras in Puja pandals for better vigil.

Ram Babu Singh, general secretary of the Samiti, said they made this appeal to all Puja committees to ensure an incident-free Durga Puja.

This year, the steel city will host around 315 community Durga Pujas, the five-day festivity starting from Mahasashthi, October 4.

“All community Pujas, irrespective of their budget, will have to install CCTV cameras and constantly monitor and record the movements of visitors,” Singh said at the meeting with committee members.

The Samiti earlier only used to ask prominent pandals that drew massive crowds to install CCTV cameras. Since last year, the Samiti started asking Puja committees with modest pandals as well to introduce the surveillance gadget for safety.

On the other highlight among the guidelines issued on Monday, Singh said: “Puja organisers have been asked to make proper provisions to tackle a fire mishap.”

CCTV cameras and firefighting provisions apart, the apex body asked Puja organisers to ensure adequate parking spaces and make provisions for barricades, watchtowers and separate queues for men and women in pandals, especially the crowd puller Pujas.

Singh also said they had requested the local administration to deploy police personnel in plainclothes, both men and women, to keep tab on the crowd at pandals.

The Samiti is also serious about parking provisions this year.

“Parking is one of our main concerns. We have asked the Puja committees to ensure that the main thoroughfares near their pandals are not blocked because of parking, as this causes great inconvenience to pandal-hoppers and normal pedestrians and commuters. Puja committees have been asked to identify vacant areas near their pandals that could be converted into parking slots during Puja days,” Singh said.