August 25, 2014
Kolkata cops ready with master plan for safety during Durga Puja
Kolkata Police is taking several measuresto boost security before the Pujas. It will unveil a fleet of eight patrolvehicles to tackle street crimes and deploy more personnel, includingpolicewomen, on the streets.
The new patrol vehicles will help respondto a crime in the quickest possible time and act as the facilitator betweenlocal police and the victim. For now, each police division will get one suchpatrol vehicle with the numbers increasing over time.
A separate police fleet is likely to startpatrolling market areas a month before Durga Puja.
They will help the dedicated patrol teams,which will be stationed in the market areas, function more effectively.However, patrolling cannot begin before September on account of manpowershortage, said sources.
“The patrol vehicles have been asked tofollow a dedicated route and serve key areas like Bowbazar, New Market,Shakespeare Sarani, Park Street and Bhowanipore, which are traditionallythronged by women,” said an officer. The control room directly monitors themovement of these vehicles.
In addition, over 500 extra cops will bedeployed all across the city. The Chandni Chowk-Park Street stretch alone willsee an extra deployment of over 100 cops day and night till the end of theentire festive season, starting from September.
The Reinforce City Patrol (RCP) — in whichpatrol vehicles will have only women cops in them — was inaugurated by policecommissioner Surajit Kar Purkayastha on Wednesday. Lalbazar sources said theywill now deploy more policewomen after stand-down — that is, after 11 PM.
Headed by DC (Women Police) Debasree Roy,three “women-only” vehicles have been launched initially. These will be manningthree spots in the city — J L Nehru Road, Rashbehari Avenue and near AkashvaniBhawan.
Police said they have also made elaboratearrangements for technical surveillance in Esplanade. “We had approachedseveral private companies, five star hotels and shopping centres in the areaand requested them to realign their CCTV cameras.
Many of them, like the Oberoi Grand,CitiMart and Peerless Inn, have responded favourably.
The cameras that were previously capturingimages of the entrance to these buildings are now facing the pavements. As aresult, all pavements on main roads and entry points to the business districthave come under surveillance,” said a top officer of central division.
Police have also decided to use the videocameras provided to each police station to maximum utility. “At present, wehave motorcycle patrolling teams that use these cameras.
We have devised a plan under which a 1.5 kmradius will be covered by each patrol party who will record suspiciousmovement,” added the officer.
The traffic police have also identified 20spots that are prone to jams during the Pujas. “We will ask 4,000 traffic copsto be on the streets in three shifts on each Puja day,” said an officer.Another 2,000 home guards will also be posted during the Pujas.
