The officers in charge of all Kolkata Police traffic guards must ensure that Durga Puja pandals don’t block CCTV cameras installed along roads, senior officers said on Thursday.

At a traffic review meeting at the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar, senior officers said a number of puja committees have completed their “khunti puja” — a ceremony that marks the beginning of the construction of the pandal — and the structures would start taking shape within a few weeks.

The officers in charge of the traffic guards should keep vigil and ensure that the pandals don’t pose a challenge to traffic management on the festive days by blocking cameras, senior officers said.

“Officers have also been asked to ensure that puja pandals do not come up on roads in a way that they impede traffic,” said a senior officer. “Puja preparations have begun and the OCs have to remain vigilant to ensure CCTV cameras along the roads are not blocked and pandals do not hinder movement of vehicles.”

Durga Puja is a little over two months away. Mahalaya, which marks the beginning of Devi Paksha, is on October 2.

Several big-ticket pujas have started erecting pandals. Khunti puja of a few others is scheduled for Sunday.

Several police officers said that not just pandals, at times even billboards around pandals block CCTV cameras. These billboards are erected in consultation with the puja committees, which often ignore the fact that these structures leave the CCTV cameras ineffective, officers said.

Before last year’s Durga Puja, Lalbazar had issued instructions to all officers to inspect the feed from CCTV cameras in their areas and intervene if some of them were found blocked by billboards.

The instruction followed a The Telegraph report on gigantic hoardings blocking the
buildings behind them as well as street lights and CCTV cameras.

The obstructions were spotted at a number of locations, including the intersection of Colootolla Street and Central Avenue, BB Ganguly Street-Central Avenue crossing and along Rashbehari Avenue and EM Bypass.

“This year officers have been told that if they spot any pandal blocking the view of CCTV cameras, they should immediately alert their superior officers and the puja committee concerned,” an officer said.

Fatal road accidents were also on the agenda of the meeting.

“Speeding is not the only reason for accidents. A number of fatal accidents have been reported from areas that are not known for speeding. Officers have been asked to identify the possible causes of the accidents,” another officer said.

Officers said a few accidents have occurred in Shaymbazar and Ultadanga, where vehicles don’t tend to speed.