PUNE: As the city gets ready to bid adieu to its favourite Ganpati on Thursday (September 12), the police have geared up for the immersion procession, which marks the end of the festival. Traffic diversions, road closures and restrictions will be in place and an internal ring road will be earmarked for connecting the diverted routes for the traffic flow during this period.
Commissioner of Police Dr K Venkatesham, while addressing a press conference at Sambhaji Police chowki on Tuesday, said that in addition to cameras at major chowks and shops (over 28,000 cameras), over 169 Closed Circuit TV (CCTV) cameras have been installed to keep a watch in the Peth areas on the important procession routes. Along with staff from the local police stations, additional staff from police headquarters, city police commssionerate and State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) will also be deployed.
Roads closed
Police officials said that the entire staff of the traffic control branch will be on the roads to man the traffic and processions. The traffic branch has released a list of roads, which will be closed for traffic till the processions are over on the next day. Shivaji Road and Laxmi Road will remain closed from 7 am on Thursday, while Guru Nanak Road, Tilak Road and Bagade Road will remain closed from 9 am onwards.
Ganesh Road and Kelkar Road will remain closed from 10 am while Bajirao Road, Kumthekar Road and Shastri Road will remain closed from noon.
Jangli Maharaj Road, Karve Road, Fergusson College Road, Bhandarkar Road, Pune-Satara Road and Prabhat Road will remain closed for traffic from 4 pm onwards.
Traffic diversions
The points on important roads, from where the traffic will be diverted are Jhansi Rani (Balgandharva) Chowk on Jangli Maharaj Road, Good Luck Chowk for Fergusson College Road, Gadgil statue for Shivaji Road, Volga Square for Satara Road, Savarkar statue for Bajirao Road and Nal Stop for Karve Road. Additional parking spaces have been created at HV Desai College in Budhwar Peth, Pulachi Wadi on the river bank, Daruwala Bridge to Khadiche Maidan on Ganesh Road, Congress Bhavan on PMC Road and Hamalwada Parking in Narayan Peth.
On the day of the visarjan, a ring road connecting the diverted routes will be earmarked for smooth passage of the traffic even at the time when the processions are on. The ring road will be formed by connecting the patches of Karve Road, Senapati Bapat Road, Ganeshkhind Road, Ambedkar Road, Nehru Road, Shivneri Road, Satara Road, Sinhagad Road and Shastri Road.
Police deployment
Jt Commissioner of Police Ravindra Shisve informed media persons that a strength of over 9,000 police personnel from the Pune city police along with two companies of SRPF, Home Guard and a large number of citizen volunteers will be a part of the overall security arrangements in the city on Thursday till the time the processions get over on Friday.
The bandobast deployment will be supervised by Jt CP Shisve and will be coordinated by four additional commissioners, 12 DCPs, 29 ACPs and 150 police inspectors. The Quick Response Teams and Riot Control Vehicles will be on the standby and the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad teams will be deployed at key positions.
Police deployment has also been made at 75 ghats and spots on riverbanks where idols will be immersed. Teams of swimmers from local groups will also be present to help devotees to immerse the idols.