A city puja committee prepares for Puja in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 18: Police are busy making comprehensive security arrangements for the upcoming Dussehra. Special arrangements for traffic regulation would be made.

Commissioner of police B.K. Sharma yesterday held a meet with the members of various puja committees in the city telling them that police would take steps for a peaceful and safe celebration of Dussehra.

“The police personnel will be deployed at various places to control crowd and keep a watch on criminals. The cops in plainclothes would also be deployed,” said Sharma, adding that the history-sheeters, likely to cause disturbance, may be taken into preventive custody.

Moreover, the major puja pandals expecting big crowds would install the CCTV cameras to keep a watch on the crowd, especially pickpockets and trouble mongers.

As most of the roads in the city have been dug up for expansion and construction of overbridges is also going on, it has become imperative to regulate traffic. The police said they had requested the civic authorities to finish the road works around the puja pandals particularly where more people were expected to visit.

The commissioner said the committees would deploy their volunteers to help the police in crowd control and traffic control around the puja places. “They have been told to identify places for parking where the devotees will keep their vehicles without hampering the traffic,” said he.

Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation mayor Anant Narayan Jena, who was present in the meet, said those roads that came under the civic body would be done on the war footing. The mayor also said that because of flood, it was not possible to put sand on the degraded roads as a temporary measure. “We are trying to repair the roads around the puja places and take steps to avoid water stagnation near the mandaps,” said the mayor.

Sources said this year more than 120 puja pandals would be held in the city and on its outskirts. A senior police officer said more than 100 committees had already applied and the rest would apply very soon.

“A single-window system has been adopted to provide all facilities to the committees without making them run to different departments for permissions,” said a police officer.

In the meeting, officials from the Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu), the general administration (GA) department, the public works department (PWD), the public health engineering organisation (PHEO) and the fire brigade were present.

The corporation would carry on 24-hour sanitation works around the mandaps. The PHEO has assured to provide water to all the puja committees. Similarly, the Cesu would provide electric supply with a minimal rate. Even the officials declared that there would not be any power cut during Dussehra. The PWD officials said they would finish the road work around the puja mandaps where works were on.

In another development, the committees requested the GA department to provide land at a concession for organising the puja. The GA department officials also agreed to their demands.

Along with the two immersion processions held every year this time a third immersion procession would be held in the city. This would include committees from Chandrasekharpur and Patia.

Moreover, most of the committee members said they would donate money for the flood victims.