Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has told police not to shut down any road to let VIP cars pass during the Puja.
Mamata said she herself doesn't take these privileges during the Puja and wants the police to ensure that VIPs also travel like others.
"Kono neta mantri ra jodi ei somoy pilot lagiye pujo dekhte jae, aamar aapotti nei, kintu tar jonnyo rastay traffic bondho korbe na (I have no problem if any leader-minister uses a pilot car, but no road should be shut down for them)," the chief minister told Calcutta's police commissioner Vineet Goyal during the virtual inauguration of a puja on Monday.
"I do not disturb anyone during the Puja. That is why we do not allow VIPs to go to Gangasagar Mela. VIPs are welcome to visit Puja pandals, but they must travel like common people. Puja is for everyone, it is for the common people," she said.
Goyal and several other senior officers of Calcutta police were on the dais at the Alipore Bodyguard Lines when the chief minister made these comments. She was inaugurating the Alipore Bodyguard Lines Abasik Durga Puja from home. The puja is organised by residents of the police quarters.
Officers of Calcutta police's traffic department said that allowing VIP cars to pass during the Puja means blocking traffic. It results in a large number of cars and pedestrians waiting to cross a road.
The VIPs invariably visit the most crowded pandals and traffic around the place comes to a halt to let them pass.
The chief minister also asked the police commissioner to ensure that buses carrying foreign tourists to pandals are allowed a green channel.
"You can paste a label on the buses ferrying foreign tourists. The police can create a green channel for them," she said.
Mamata asked Goyal to inform the traffic department to not extend any privileges to VIP cars. She threatened to take action if any road is found to have been shut down.
"I will have to act if I find that any road has been shut down," she said.
A police officer with over three decades of experience in the traffic department said officers working on the ground would feel emboldened if they know they will not face the wrath of any VIP by denying the car ferrying the person any special privilege.
Though the chief minister took the name of only leaders and ministers, there are many other VIPs who demand privileges, said the officer.