On Mahalaya, elaborate measures in place

Kolkata: The Kolkata Police have made an elaborate arrangement to avoid any untoward incident when hundreds of people will gather in the banks of river Hooghly to offer tarpan on the day of Mahalaya.

Every year, hundreds of people gather at the ghats on the banks of river Hooghly since early morning on the day of Mahalaya. After taking the holy dip in the river, they offer tarpan.

The police take all necessary steps so that not a single person drowns in the river.

Officers of the River Traffic section of the Kolkata Police will be out in the river on boats. The boats will keep moving near the ghats so that immediate assistance can be provided to people as and when required. There will also be officers of the disaster management group and they will dive into the river if they find someone drowning.

There will be constant announcement using public addressing system from the boats so that people keep themselves restricted at the ghats in the banks of river Hooghly.

Cops will be posted at the ghats from early in the morning. Senior police officers mainly from the City Police's Port Division will be on duty on Monday to ensure safety of the people at the ghats. The senior police officers will also be constantly monitoring the situation.

Policemen will also be deployed at the ghats to manage the crowd. Special precautions will be taken when there will be high tide in the river. No one will be allowed to get down in the river for 15 minutes before and after the high tide.

At the same time, special arrangements have also been made at Kumartuli as Durga Puja organisers will start taking idols of the goddesses and her entourage to their Puja pandals from the day of Mahalaya itself.

Additional policemen will be deployed in the area to manage the traffic. Hundreds of vehicles will have to be parked on Rabindra Sadan and each of the vehicles need to remain parked for hours as loading of idols is a time taking process.

The rush at Kumartuli will be at its peak on next Saturday and Sunday when most idols will be taken to the Puja pandals.

It may be mentioned that artisans in Kumartuli have almost completed the work of making the idols and they are now giving finishing touches to some of the idols.