Kids take part in a fancy dress show at a school on the eve of Ram Navami, in Patna on Monday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, April 11: The city police are on high alert ahead of Ram Navami festival starting on Tuesday.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar said many sensitive areas have been identified and there will be proper and concrete deployment of forces at all these areas.

The SSP said even the traffic police have been asked to stay on an alert and tend after the traffic situation in the city during the festival.

The Station Road area will be particularly guarded with the Mahavir Temple opening its gates for the devotees at as early as 1.30am on Tuesday.

“The police are alert and have taken steps to ensure a safe and hassle-free Ram Navami in the state capital. Some sensitive areas have been identified and there will be a lot of police deployment across these places to avoid any untoward incident. In addition to this, there will be policemen moving in civil clothes too so that the identification of anti-social elements can be easy. There will be heavy police presence all around the state capital,” the SSP said.

The officer said apart from the areas, many other temples would also have heavy police presence.

“There will be police presence near the temples. The police stations in Patna have been asked to stay on high alert. There would be constant patrolling until the festival ends. The police mobile units have been asked to be present at different roundabouts,” the senior official said.

The Station Road area, where maximum turnout is expected, will be in the special attention list of the police.

“The traffic constables have been asked to stay at each of the roundabouts from where processions are expected. The traffic movement along different roads will be streamlined accordingly. The commuters will not be facing any problems. They are though advised to follow the directions of the traffic men in uniform,” the officer said.

The sensitive areas include Patna City, Sabzi Bagh, Pirbohore, Phulwarisharif, Alamganj, Sultanganj police stations.

The Mahavir Temple near Station Road is expected to draw the biggest of crowds.

“This is an annual affair. The doors of the temple will be opened at 1.30am and people will be queuing up from early hours on Tuesday. The whole area from the temple till the GPO roundabout will be covered completely to ensure that devotees don’t face any difficulties while waiting for their turn during the daytime when it is very hot,” said Kunal Kishore, the secretary of the Mahavir Tample Nyas Samiti.

He added that electric fans would be put up. There would be separate queues for men and women.