Kolkata: Kolkata Police have made elaborate arrangements that will be in place from Chaturthi onwards to help pandal-hoppers visit Puja mandaps without facing any inconvenience.
With people starting to visit Puja pandals from Chaturthi itself, additional policemen will be posted all around the city from the same day to avoid any untoward incident.
Vineet Goyal, Additional Commissioner of Police (I), said: "All steps have been taken to ensure that people can visit the Puja mandaps without any problem."
It may be recalled that earlier, the process of pandal-hopping used to begin from Saptami onwards. But for the past few years, the police have witnessed that huge crowds throng the pandals from Chaturthi itself and accordingly, plans to tackle the situation have been chalked out by the top brass of the Kolkata Police.
Additional policemen will be deployed in and around popular Puja mandaps. A large number of policemen will also be deployed at crucial intersections.
Top brass of the city police will also be on duty at different locations.
Besides taking necessary measures to avoid any untoward incident in the city, another main task force of the police will be there to maintain traffic during the festival days.
The rank and file of the Kolkata Traffic Police will be on duty round-the-clock to ensure smooth movement of vehicles despite lakhs of people pouring into the city to visit various Puja mandaps.
Volunteers and Home Guards will be deployed to ensure that pedestrians do not walk on the roads as it leads to traffic congestion. This time, there will be certain spots in the city from where taxis and app-based cabs will be made easily available.
There will be restrictions on plying of auto-rickshaws on major thoroughfares. This step has been taken to avoid traffic snarls.
Moreover, a Puja guide map has been released on Thursday. Rajeev Kumar, Commissioner of Police and other senior officers were present during the programme in which the Puja guide map was released.
There will also be policemen in plainclothes posted at different locations. They will be keeping a strict watch and would take necessary measures if they find anyone moving around the place suspiciously.
There will be special assistance booths at different points in the city to provide help to pandal-hoppers.