An idol of Goddess Durga and people outside a pandal during Puja in Cuttack last year. Pictures by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, Sept. 28: Police have asked Durga Puja committees in Cuttack to install closed-circuit television cameras at their pandals during Dusshera festivities.

The move is aimed at better crowd management besides ensuring safety of the idols and the gold and silver medhas (backdrop of the idols).

Further discussion on the feasibility of this proposal would be taken up at meetings to be held at various police stations in the run up to the 10-day festival that starts on October 20.

This is the first time that puja committees in Cuttack have been asked to scale up security and surveillance by way of CCTV cameras, which has been the practice in Bhubaneswar for the past two years.

“The emphasis is on ensuring that Dusshera is observed peacefully in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. There will be comprehensive security arrangements to keep trouble makers at bay. Besides, special arrangements would be in place to control crowd and vehicular movement,” said police commissioner Sunil Roy.

Officials said the puja committees would allocate parking lots near their pandals and deploy volunteers to help the police in managing crowd and vehicles around the pandals.

“We will divert vehicles on various roads during Navami and Dashami,” said a senior traffic official.

On September 25, the police had organised a meeting to assess their preparedness in Bhubaneswar during the festival. The following day, another meeting was convened in Cuttack.

Police have also promised the organisers in Cuttack they would start a “single window system” to obtain licences from various government organisations. This system has been in place in Bhubaneswar for two years.

The organisers, on the other hand, have requested the police to extend the time limit for the use of microphones so that the music can continue till midnight. The present time limit on musical programmes is 10pm. Police officials, though, have set this issue aside for the time being.

Puja committees in Cuttack have been asked to submit the names of at least three members who would drive the chassis on which idols are taken in a procession for immersion. The police said it has been found that most such drivers often abandon the chassis on the road, which obstructs the movement of other processions.

Also, one procession from a lane would be allowed to move after two processions on the main road have passed through for immersion.

The committees have assured to cooperate with the authorities in organising a peaceful Dussehra and promised to get over with the immersion by 10.30pm this year.