More police personnel will be deployed during the daytime and in early hours from Panchami, Sunday, compared with last year’s Puja in anticipation that people would not crowd the roads only in the evening and at night.
Kolkata police commissioner Soumen Mitra on Friday said 4,500 personnel would be on the roads from afternoon to night Chaturthi (Saturday) onwards to manage the crowd.
The total deployment of police personnel on the Puja days will be much higher this year compared with previous years because of the additional deployment during the daytime and in the early hours, he said. Pre-pandemic, only a marginal force would be deployed during the daytime on the Puja days.
“The combined strength of the special Puja deployment of traffic and police stations for law and order management will be around 4,500 (in the evening and at night). They will be posted in shifts. The actual number of men on the roads will be higher as this year we will have police arrangements in the early morning and daytime, too,” Mitra said, during the launch of Kolkata police’s Puja traffic guide.
The usual practice is to deploy the maximum force in the evening and at night, when the crowd reaches its peak. Only skeletal force would be posted between early in the morning and afternoon. However, this year police are expecting that a large section of people would like to avoid the peak evening crowd and may be out pandal-hopping during the day. “Our focus will be to ensure that the high court’s guidelines are followed. Even during the pre-pandemic times, Kolkata police handled the Durga Puja crowd. We are prepared this time, too,” Mitra said.
To handle the large volume of vehicles on the roads during Durga Puja, traffic cops have been instructed to ensure there is no illegal parking along the city thoroughfares.
A senior officer of the traffic department said all traffic guards had been instructed to carry out a drive against illegal parking on the weekend to ensure there was no encroachment on the road space.
“A part of the road space is already taken up because of the barricades. Hence, it has to be ensured that there is no unauthorised parking. That will keep the traffic flow smooth,” said the officer.
Two-wheelers
Traffic police will carry out a drive against rash and negligent driving by two-wheelers over the weekend. An officer said the police wanted to set an example early to send the message that reckless driving would be penalised even during the festival.
Cyclist hit by vehicle on Basanti Highway, injured
A cyclist was injured after being hit by a vehicle on Basanti Highway on Thursday night.
Police identified the injured bicyclist as Mohammad Rizwanur. He is a resident of Tiljala Road, a police officer said. Rizwanur was treated at Calcutta National Medical College and Hospital, the police said.