400 stewards posted in Salt Lake stadium to ensure safety & security

Kolkata: For Kolkata that can't have enough of this FIFA Under-17 World Cup, it just got better when a Brazil-England semi-final "gift" was blown their way by wind and rain. As demand for match tickets skyrocketed with an online queue of more than a lakh registering within an hour after they were thrown open at the official FIFA site, the state administration is all geared up for the iconic clash.

To prevent any untoward situation during the match, a total of 400 stewards have been posted in the stadium to ensure safety and security of spectators.

On top of this, the stewards will be using body-cams to monitor the crowds in the galleries of the Salt Lake stadium on Wednesday.

The initiative has been taken so that movement of any spectator trying to create problems during the match may be prevented.

A recent incident of some spectators throwing water pouches during the quarter-final match between Brazil and Germany on Sunday has drawn much ire.

There are a total of 12 blocks in the gallery and at least two stewards with body cams will be posted in each of the blocks.

Santosh Pandey, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) of Bidhannagar Police, said: "Stewards posted in the galleries will be carrying body-cams."

At the same time, some CCTVs will focus on galleries, keeping constant scrutiny. Immediate measures will be taken in case anyone is found attempting to create trouble in the gallery during the match.

Stringent measures will be taken against those spectators who will be trying to create any disturbance during the two matches. They will be immediately sent out of the stadium and depending on the situation, steps could also be taken to restrict entry of the person in the stadium in near future. Besides this, the police have also taken necessary measures to ensure the same outside Swami Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan.

A total of 3,800 additional policemen will be posted to keep watch so that spectators and delegates from abroad do not face any inconvenience to get entry into the stadium.