Kolkata: Traffic Police has issued operational directives to officers-in charge (OCs) and sergeants, mandating physical inspections of Durga Puja pandals.
Police commissioner Ajay Kumar Nand instructed senior officers to submit detailed ground assessment reports to Lalbazar within 14 days.
“Police have asked all puja committees to submit their theme concepts and structural designs in advance to prevent controversial themes,” a senior cop said. Field officers must engage directly with festival organisers to enforce four non-negotiable conditions: prevention of controversial theme executions, ensuring equal capacity for entry and exit gates, prohibiting elevated ramps or structure in major pandal hubs and banning parking of vehicles near exit gates. Police have placed major pandal hubs, including Deshapriya Park, Kasba, Gariahat, Kumartulli, Behala, B K Pal Avenue, and Bagbazar, under heightened surveillance. Traffic personnel are actively working to identify suitable spots to create parking spaces. Local police stations must compile an exhaustive directory of registered puja venues. Officers are needed to audit structural arrangements with organisers—verifying gate proportions, barricading, and emergency vehicle corridors.