KOLKATA: Patrol vehicles — police control room vehicles (PCRs), heavy radio flying squad, motorbike squads and autos hired by local cops for law-and-order duty — will be criss-crossing the city on Saturday to try and restrict the use of firecrackers. For the first time, all these vehicles will have a dual job — to ensure that the mandatory 5m distance from Kali Puja pandals is maintained and the complete ban on crackers is implemented.
“We are keeping a provision of at least a 100 chase-and-prosecute vehicles for Saturday,” said an officer.
The police have identified some locations, including Phoolbagan, Behala, Tollygunge, Ballygunge, Lake Gardens, Patuli, Jadavpur, Entally and Cossipore, that will have special teams monitoring them. They will develop strategies after mapping the spots that have a history of maximum air and sound pollution on Diwali in the past five years. “A few apartments and slums will see extra cop deployment,” said another officer, adding that they would be recording all police activities in these pockets for future legal reference.
Meanwhile, Kolkata Police will deploy at least one civic volunteer at each pandal on Kali Puja evening and at least two cops each at mid-sized pujas. This is over and beyond the deployment at each division to stop the use of firecrackers. The final deployment plan has reached individual police stations and the cops said it has been drawn up keeping the ground situation in mind.
“The high court has ordered that no one can enter the Kali Puja pandals. Those officers and volunteers will ensure the same. If required, these men and women will seek backup from the local police station,” said an officer. Additional forces are likely to be deployed at each division for emergencies.
A WBPCB hotline is also likely to be maintained, besides the dedicated police lines. “There were some issues regarding working on complaints lodged last year. This year, we are trying to rectify some of them,” said a source.
Senior officers said there were three reasons why they seemed confident of upholding the HC order. “We have the necessary experience. Though the number of Kali Puja pandals are more than that of Durga Puja, not many require more than one or two cops to be manned. Also, unlike last time, most organizers are aware of the Covid-induced requirements and are accordingly prepared. Traditionally, too, Kali Puja pandals are more open and the idol is visible from a distance. Similarly, the general awareness against crackers is much higher this year, especially since the apartments — which are often the worst violators — have been hit by Covid. Also unlike Durga Puja, Kali Puja does not stretch too long and there are fewer people at the pandals. So we can concentrate on crackers for most part of the day,” explained a joint CP.