KOLKATA: Kolkata Police has decided to revisit the New Year’s Eve plans and bring about necessary changes following the Calcutta High Court order asking the administration to ensure Covid norms are followed and there isn’t too much crowding.
“We may have to re-arrange the force after going through the order. There could be multiple channels to regulate pedestrians who are expected to converge on Park Street in large numbers that day,” said an officer. Traffic police will take a call on when to divert traffic away from Park Street later. Specific points have been marked out in and around Park Street where people can alight from or board their cars or app cabs on New Year’s Eve.
“It is a long weekend. We might have to deploy close to 12,000 men on the roads of Kolkata. The security set up is likely to remain unchanged but the social distancing challenge will mean scaling up the police presence at Park Street,” said an officer.
Police plan to intensify the MaskUp Kolkata campaign and distribute masks in and around Park Street, Maidan and Alipore Zoo. Though it has plans to prosecute people not using masks and a special team will be deployed, the force is aware of the herculean nature of the task if thousands disobey safety norms like they did on Chirstmas Eve. “We are deploying special teams for this purpose,” said a DCP.
The traffic police plans to intensify checks on drink driving and will span out to new party hotspots in the city instead of confining itself to Park Street. These include Ballygunge, Deshapriya Park, Purna Das Road and Sarat Bose Road that have turned into veritable food streets of late.
“The raids since December 20 show drink driving is not confined to a few spots. There are reports of rave parties being organized. Our teams are on the lookout. We will carry out block raids right from late evening till morning in at least 50 places,” said an IPS officer.
The Jorabagan traffic guard has pulled up over 30 bikers for drink driving since the drive began last week, the Beliaghata traffic guard on EM Bypass found several more this Sunday. “We have been instructed to stick to the nakas and to check two-wheeler riders 24 hours a day,” said an officer.
The local police will not only help maintain law and order but also pitch in to ensure seamless pedestrian movements and prevent any stampede-like situation, especially at ticket counters at the zoo and Victoria Memorial Hall.