With Durga Puja starting in next 10 days, the West Bengal government announced to deploy a round 1,000 additional traffic cops will be deployed on the streets from October 6, next Sunday. Further, special office-time traffic arrangements will be put in place between October 7 and 9.
Further, to resolve the car parking isuue during the festive month, home guards, civic volunteers and some sergeants will be deployed near pandals. Meanwhile, the main force will hit the road around 2-4 pm on all puja days, a Times of India report cited.
Traffic officers have also selected several crossings for increased deployment, particularly between Tritiya and Sasthi. The routes include
Cops will also keep an eye on crowd spillover at some Metro stations
“For the past two years, Chorbagan saw a lot of movement post 3 pm during Durga Puja, with a large number of revellers using the narrower lanes to try and return to CR Avenue though the pedestrian channels that were created to disperse the pandal-hoppers on to Bidhan Sarani-Vivekananda Road (through Amar Ghosh Lane) after creating the entrance from CR Avenue (though Muktarambabu Street). As a result, it has been decided to shut down Parvati Ghosh Lane (except for local residents) to ensure the crowd does not return back to CR Avenue,” said an officer, as quoted by ToI.
Cops plan to barricade both sides of Amherst Street and BB Ganguly Street to control the central Kolkata crowd. For the second time, crowd dispersal from College Square will be routed through Bankim Chatterjee Street, allowing two-way dispersals.
At Rashbehari Avenue, hawkers will be removed from in front of Bachan’s Dhaba. Metro station gates will be designated separately for entry and exit. The flow of revelers to Ballygunge Cultural will be adjusted for those also visiting the Tridhara pandal. Exits from a few pandals along the CR Avenue near Sovabazar-Girish Park will be longer.
