Taking selfies in front of pandals may be restricted for better crowd mgmt

In a meeting with all the stake holders, including civic officials, fire service officials and disaster management, the top brass of the Kolkata police said that taking selfies, photos create chaos in the queue. The on-duty officers face a lot of problems in maintaining a smooth functioning of crowd in busy pandals.

However, no final decision has been made till now, but the top Kolkata police officials are looking into every possible angle. “It is fact that people taking selfies and photographs cause disruptions in the lines towards the Puja pandal. But it is not an easy decision to take. We cannot take this decision spontaneously. A lot of discussion and consensus would be required before taking this decision,” said one of the top cops of Kolkata police.

However, a poster will be soon seen in every nooks and cranny of the city on behalf of the Kolkata Police, appealing to the denizens not to click photographs and selfies while entering the premises of Puja pandal. “The police can restrict people from taking selfies in some certain areas – especially in front of the Puja pandals, but taking selfies in the road cannot be barred,” another officer said.

The Puja Committees have requested the police to check the people who click photographs which take a lot of time, which in turn causes congestion and which leads to another group of people stuck outside the pandal waiting to get inside. But restricting selfies far from the pandals with immediate effect is not possible right now – Kolkata police have clarified this to the Puja Committees.

“We’ll try to restrict the selfies in front of the Puja Pandal on immediate basis. But restraining the youth from taking selfies is really a difficult job,” the officer added.

What would happen if police catches somebody taking selfies in front of the Puja pandal? “We can fine them,” said the officer adding that the police also have to see whether the Puja organisers and VVIPs are breaking the rule or not.