Kolkata: After a noisy Diwali, Kolkata Police is preparing to keep Chhath Puja quieter. Areas of concern include Mukundapur, Survey Park, Kasba, Dhakuria, Paddapukur, Beleghata, Tangra, Cossipore, Sarsuna and Parnasree. In all, 14 police station areas have been listed for extra watch near local water bodies.Following a noisy Diwali that also witnessed rowdyism in the form of police coming under attacks at three different spots, cops are gearing up for another test – involving banned crackers and playing DJ music – to ensure Chhath Puja remains less noisy than Diwali.However, given the recent memory, cops working on the ground told TOI that the “threat of a Diwali sound rerun” cannot “entirely be ruled out” in a few pockets of the city that has a history of such violations.However, given the success in curbing DJ music, cops are confident that the same can be repeated right up to Jagatdhatri puja.Sources pointed out that while seizures each day were a sign of police “alertness,” it also shows that there is still enough stock left in the city that can lead to violations yet again. For the record, 250 odd kg of illegal firecrackers have been seized by Kolkata Police in the past three years.Sources said pockets of concern remain Mukundapur, Survey Park, Kasba, Dhakuria, Paddapukur, Beliaghata, Tangra, Cossipore, Sarsuna and Parnasree, all of which have reported violations even last year even as the areas around Lake and Southern avenue have shown vast improvements.The police mapped certain pockets in the city which saw repeated instances of illegal crackers being burst during the Chhath festival in the past. The cops also mapped the spots from where maximum noise complaints poured in during Diwali, maintaining that it was only in a few pockets where gross violations were reported. In all 14 police station areas were mentioned in this list where cops will have their presence across local waterbodies.Police said that while no major infringements are usually noticed at the major ghats on the Hooghly, it was the local water bodies, which had nominal cop presence that usually witnessed the maximum bursting of illegal crackers. Among the complaints last year was a professor from Tangra who wrote a detailed email of her ordeal to senior officers for over 24 hours. The police said that there will be significant makeshift waterfronts this year too.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 Monday evening and Tuesday 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 from 10am on Sunday in shifts. This will include traffic cops who will redirect devotees to the temporary and permanent 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 on October 30.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.
Discover more from updatview
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
