A team of police officers on Tuesday inspected Durga Puja pandals across Calcutta to see if there was adequate provision for free airflow across the structure.

The officers checked if puja committees had made adequate arrangements for unhindered flow of visitors in small numbers to pandals.

The team of officers, led by Subhankar Sinha Sarkar, joint police commissioner, visited 20 puja pandals during the day to inspect the arrangements that have been made for the entry and exit of visitors and if pandals had been built in keeping with the government norms.

Pandals should be built in such a way that there is unhindered airflow, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had said at a meeting with puja organisers on September 24.

Either the top or the three sides of a pandal should be kept open for air to flow freely and organisers should ensure there is no gathering of visitors to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

Tuesday’s inspection began with Kumartuli Park in the north and covered several other prominent pujas, including Mohammad Ali Park on Central Avenue, College Square, Santosh Mitra Square, Bosepukur Sitalamandir in Kasba, Ekdalia Evergreen, Deshapriya Park, Naktala Udyan Sangha, Suruchi Sangha in New Alipore and Behala Notun Dal.

“Most puja committees have adhered to the norms laid down by the government for the construction of pandals to ensure free circulation of air,” Sarkar said. “We have instructed puja committees to ensure there are adequate arrangements for masks and sanitisers.”

At Kumartuli, organisers told the police team that they would keep the top open for air to flow and that there would be several exit gates for quick movement of visitors.

“The police team was more or less satisfied with our arrangements,” Pabitra Basak of Kumartuli Park said.

“Officers, however, said volunteers should wear face shields. We will now have to think how to arrange them for so many volunteers,” he said.

Apart from the entry/exit arrangements, the team wanted to check how organisers had decided to restrict the number of people converging before idols at a time, an officer said.

Fewer people in front of idols would mean longer queues outside and the police wanted to check if there were enough arrangements to manage such long queues, the officer said.

At Shibmandir in Mudiali, officers went through the entry/exit arrangements and spoke with organisers about people converging in front of the idol.

“Pandal-hoppers needn’t stand. They can keep walking and watch our idol from a distance,” Partho Ghosh of Shibmandir puja committee, said.

In Kasba and across parts of Behala and Kalighat, several puja organisers have ensured that visitors don’t have to enter a small zone to watch the idols.

“We showed the team this year our gates are far wider than previous years and are more in number,” Sandipan Banerjee of Behala Notun Dal said.

The chief minister is scheduled to inaugurate this puja on October 16, along with a few others in south Calcutta.