Working towards a safe Ganeshotsav

September 4, 2016

“The police are working towards a safe and secure Ganeshotsav in the city for this year,” stated Rashmi Shukla, Police Commissioner of Pune at a press conference held to address the bandobust by the police for the 10-day Ganapati festival starting on Monday. This year a number of celebrations have been planned by several mandals in the city.
From September 5 till the last day of the festival, all the dholtasha pathaks and mandals have been sent a notice about the rules and regulations they have to follow, failing which strict action will be taken against them by the police. “Overall, there are 4,419 sarvajanik Ganapati mandals that have been registered all over the city. The police have held 187 peace committee meetings. There is also a WhatsApp group that has been created to coordinate better with the authorities of the mandals,” explains Shukla.
She also added that 113 CCTV cameras have been installed around the procession routes of the city. For all the 10 days, a number of police officials have been put on duty in the city. “We have arranged for two additional Commissioner of Police (CP), 16 Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCP), 40 Assistant Commissioners Police (ACP), 179 Police Inspectors (PI,) 600 Assistant Police Inspectors (API) and sub-inspectors along with 8,000 policemen and women,” said Shukla. She also mentioned that around 500 home guards and three companies of state reserve of police would be deployed in the city to maintain law and order during the festival.
For the period of the festival, she also requested all the mandalsand dholtasha pathaks to follow all the noise pollution orders by the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court respectively. On September 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15, loudspeakers are allowed till midnight. Though, the volume of the loudspeakers has to be within the decibel limit as mandated by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB). The police will also be using decibel metres to identify those causing a decibel violation.
Shukla also requested that during the festival people should preferably not carry any valuables and jewellery and that parents must also be vary of their children’s whereabouts. She also stressed that if anyone suspects any suspicious activities and citizens are encouraged to inform the police about it.
The police have also launched a campaign called ‘Give Way to Ambulance’. An ambulance will be present on the days of the festival to give immediate medical help. The contact number for the ambulance is 8491800100.