Brace for office-cum-puja rush for week’s first 3 days
Times of India | 7 October 2024
Kolkata: The city police deployed 7,500 personnel and another 4,000 supporting force on Sunday who struggled to manage the evening crowd as lakhs went pandal-hopping, choking evening traffic and forming serpentine queues across most pandals. While cops promised more personnel and smoother traffic management from Monday, the city has to brace for a tough three-day period as office-goers returning home will merge with puja revellers, likely resulting in chaos at several places.
To make matters worse, autos will go off roads from Monday evening according to Kolkata Police instructions.
“Sunday morning was fine and the rain helped thin the revelry crowd. But as the weather improved, people came out in lakhs. Many crossed over barricades, pedestrian channels and jaywalked, slowing down traffic in several places,” said an officer.
The situation was particularly bad along Rashbehari Avenue, Rasbehari connector, Chetla Road, Tollygunge Circular Road and DH Road, where revellers crisscrossed thoroughfares on foot, cars and bikes in the evening. Former West Indies cricket captain Brian Lara’s visit to Suruchi Sangha further impacted traffic. There was vehicular pressure on APC Road, CR Avenue and RG Kar Road as well.
The pressure was felt underground, too, as Metro trains ran packed to capacity and RPF personnel had a tough time pushing people inside compartments to ensure the gates closed. “I dread to think how packed Metro trains will be on Monday evening,” said Rupsa Chakraborty, a Bansdroni resident who works at a private firm in Camac Street.
“We had increased our deployment to 11,500 on Sunday but even that wasn’t enough. We will go for full deployment of 19,000-odd personnel from Monday,” said an officer.
The officer added there were 54 watch towers to handle emergency situations and an additional control room has been set up at Lalbazar, apart from the 58 control rooms on the roads, where CP Manoj Verma will monitor the traffic situation. Ten divisions of Kolkata Police will have a mobile missing squad each to assist anyone lost in the crowd.
The crowd flow on VIP Road and in Salt Lake was similar and Bidhannagar City Police deployed their full puja force of 7,800-odd policemen. However, they managed to keep vehicles moving smoothly along the thoroughfares throughout the day.