GUWAHATI, Sept 12 � With the Durga Puja and a number of other festivals approaching, it will be a tough test for the district administration to handle the rush and ensure safe and smooth festivities.
Durga Puja being one of the biggest occasions when masses gather on the streets for pandal hopping, a foolproof plan to maintain law and order without interrupting the merriment is necessary. Keeping all these factors in mind, the district administration has issued comprehensive guidelines for the puja committees and government agencies concerned.
Talking to The Assam Tribune, the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro), Ashutosh Agnihotri said that all the puja committees have been asked to strictly follow the Pollution Control Board norms right from preparing the idols, hygiene in the pandals and timing of loudspeakers to immersing the idols in the river or any other water body.
�We have already had a meeting with the puja committees, Guwahati Municipal Corporation and the Inland Water Transport, and detailed guidelines have been issued to each of them to conduct the festivities smoothly. Micro-level issues of the puja committees like streetlights, water supply, conservancy, etc., will be addressed in advance,� he said.
Circle-level committees will sit this week to address all such issues. Last year, Durga Puja was held in around 385 big and small pandals in different locations here. The number is likely to increase this year.
�We have asked the puja committees to depute adequate number of volunteers to assist the people. The administration will arrange constant vigil of the pandals for security reasons,� the DC added.
Elaborate plans have also been chalked out to control the traffic and make pandal-hopping as hassle-free as possible. Regarding traffic regulations, a detailed briefing will be done a few days ahead of the pujas.
Though security will be constantly monitored in the pandals, provision of close-circuit cameras has not been made. �It is not possible to instal security cameras at all the puja locations. However, if the puja committees arrange CCTVs on their own, it will help us,� he added.
