KP tighten measures for quieter Chhath Puja after noisy Diwali
Times of India | 5 November 2024
12 Kolkata: Following a noisy Diwali that saw blatant violations of court orders with banned sound and light crackers being burst across multiple neighbourhoods in the city, cops are gearing up for a fresh crackdown on banned crackers to ensure Chhath Puja remains less noisy than Diwali.
A total of 3,700 cops are slated to man the 133 separate ghats, natural water bodies, and the artificial ones where Chhath devotees will queue up on Thursday evening and Friday morning. At least 35 senior officers – DCPs and ACPs – will be leading the men on the ground. Another 300-odd cops will guard the Subhas Sarobar and Rabindra Sarobar. This will include traffic cops who will redirect devotees to the other water bodies. A separate deployment at some pockets in the city is also going to continue, keeping the law and order situation in mind and the upcoming Jagatdhatri Puja.
Cops have been asked to conduct frequent raids at the city's firecracker hubs, such as Old China Bazar and Chandi Chowk in central Kolkata, and a few specific pockets in the south to prevent the sale of firecrackers before Chhath. Announcements on loudspeakers and awareness drives have also been planned across multiple business hubs and predominantly Bihari neighbourhoods in Posta, Burrabazar, and multiple places in north and south Kolkata.
Taking lessons from the past few years - and following the model used in the past two years when devotees were successfully stopped from accessing the Rabindra Sarobar, thanks largely to the cooperation of the community - cops will yet again barricade the gates of Rabindra Sarobar and put up tin structures in between the bamboo barricades at select spots to stop people from slipping through.
The deployment this year will be slightly less compared to last year, said sources. There are two primary reasons. "One, the devotees are now conversant with the drill from last year. Two, this year, the arrangement has been extended further across the city, and there has been ample time to sit down with the community and explain the administrative plans. They have been very cooperative so far," said an officer.