New Delhi, Sept. 5 -- Ahead of the annual Durga Puja coordination meeting, which Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is expected to attend, Kolkata Police has asked all city police stations to prepare detailed local plans to manage crowds at pandals and prevent festival-related incidents.
At a virtual coordination meeting with Officers-in-Charge (OCs) and senior officers at Lalbazar on Friday, the Police Commissioner stressed that safety must remain the top priority. Police stations have been directed to familiarise themselves with the themes and proposed structures of puja pandals in their respective jurisdictions.
According to the instructions, pandals should be designed to accommodate larger crowds, with entry and exit points located separately. Officers must ensure that organisers provide adequate and broadly equal capacity at both gates to facilitate the smooth movement of visitors.
Ahead of the coordination meeting, police officers will conduct physical inspections of pandal structures in consultation with organisers. They will check gate proportions and barricading arrangements and ensure that elevated ramps or temporary structures do not obstruct pedestrian movement at major puja hubs.
Police stations have also been asked to collect advance details of themes, structural designs and estimated footprints from major puja committees to anticipate crowd movement and identify possible bottlenecks.
Clear corridors for emergency vehicles must be maintained, while parking near exit gates of major pandals will be prohibited. Over the next fortnight, local police stations will prepare crowd-flow maps and identify vulnerable points to ensure safer and smoother pandal-hopping during the festival.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.