Bidhannagar Police plans to take senior citizens on tour of major Puja pandals

Kolkata: Bidhannagar City Police, in association with an NGO, has planned to take senior citizens for a tour of Durga Puja pandals on Panchami under the ‘Saanjhbaati’ initiative.

Fifty chosen elderly persons will be taken on a tour to the major Puja pandals of Salt Lake, Lake Town, including Sreebhumi and Baguiati areas. During the tours, they will be provided with refreshments and lunch.

It was decided that the senior citizens will be picked up from the Bidhannagar City Police headquarters about 11 am and will be dropped off at the same place by 4 pm. Due to limited logistics and manpower, the event is focusing on senior citizens for the programmes and tours that are conducted throughout the year on rotation basis.

On Chaturthi, the Durga Puja of the NGO will be inaugurated at their headquarters in Sonarpur area where a group of ‘Saanjhbaati’ members will be taken. They will also be taken to the Narendrapur Ramkrishna Mission to witness the Puja there.

After the Durga Puja is over, ‘Saanjhbaati’ will conduct Bijoya Sammilani in Salt Lake. Though it has been decided that the Bijoya Sammilani will be arranged block-wise, depending upon the number of members, two to three might get merged in one day. Presently, the total number of ‘Saanjhbaati’ members is 1646, including 976 in proper Salt Lake. Recently, ‘Saanjhbaati’ smartphone application was launched by the Commissioner of Police, Bidhannagar, Gaurav Sharma and the state Fire and Emergency Services minister Sujit Bose.

The application contains the contact numbers of local medicine stores, grocery stores, local police stations and an SOS button. In case any member is facing any emergency issue, he or she will have to press the SOS button. Immediately an alarm will be raised in the local police station and control room from where necessary intervention and action will be taken.