Immersion: Cops deployed at 34 ghats in city; additional cameras put up at 15 ghats

KOLKATA: Kolkata Police have made elaborate arrangements at all the 'ghats' on the bank of river Hooghly to avoid any untoward incident during the immersion process.

On Wednesday, about 3077 Puja committees immersed the idols till late night. On Thursday till 10pm, 81 idols have been immersed. According to sources, police personnel have been deployed at 34 gahts from Wednesday, where immersion is taking place. Among those, 15 ghats have been marked as the most popular and busy ones, where additional surveillance cameras have been installed. Three police camps have been set up at the Gwalior ghat, Outram ghat and Nimtala ghat. Disaster Management Group (DMG) teams equipped with necessary equipment are being kept on standby at each of the ghats along with expert divers. Several watch towers have been set up to keep an eye on the crowd.This apart, cops of river traffic are patrolling the water using speed boats and jet skies. Deputy Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners are in-charge of supervision of the immersion process.To ensure smooth movement of vehicles and goods vehicles carrying idols, more than 200 police pickets have been set up at major junction points and strategic points.

Police are also restricting traffic on 55 roads till Saturday for immersion purpose. Cops on picket duty had also been directed to keep a watch on the vehicles carrying idols and ensure that no DJ music was played. DMs have been requested to take all precautions at the ghats at the time of immersion to prevent incidents of deaths due to drowning.