All police jurisdictions that will witness Ram Navami processions have been asked to bring the rally routes under CCTV coverage this year.

An instruction from the Kolkata Police headquarters in Lalbazar has been circulated across all the police stations where the processions will take place, asking them to start their preparedness for this year’s Ram Navami which is scheduled to be celebrated on April 6.

“We have been asked to install additional CCTV cameras for maximum coverage of the route. All the rallies will have to be videographed this year,” said an officer-in-charge of a police station in the Eastern Suburban division.

Sources said the police stations have been asked to start holding meetings with the organisers of Ram Navami and spread the communication about organising peaceful rallies without any weapons in accordance with the guidelines of the Calcutta High Court.

Although last year all the processions were covered by police personnel, many members of some of the big processions turned out to be carrying weapons violating the court order.

“We are trying to create awareness. There would be adequate deployment along the routes. We have also asked the officers at the grassroots level to collect intelligence about the Ram Navami processions in their areas,” said a senior police officer in Lalbazar.

Over the past few years, the number of processions on Ram Navami has multiplied many times. Pockets of south, north and central Calcutta, east Calcutta and the port division are largely affected due to the processions — some of which block the roads and engage DJs.

“The high court guidelines are clear. There would be no DJ and the number of participants in the rallies should also be limited. We will encourage all organisers to submit their details at Lalbazar seeking formal permission to hold the procession,” said the senior officer.