The Mumbai police will have more than 40,000 policemen on duty, so safety will be top priority
Mumbai : The Mumbai police is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a safe and secure environment on the last day of Ganeshotsav on Saturday For the first time, the longest immersion route – the one taken by the famous Lalbaugcha Raja Ganpati will be covered entirely by CCTV cameras.
The route starts at Parel and stretches up to Girgaum Chowpatty passing through Sane Guruji Marg, NM Joshi Marg and SVP road. The route is also taken by several major Ganpati mandals in the area. “We have been trying to implement the move since a long time but this year we had all the necessary infrastructure in place and hence could monitor the area using CCTV footage,” said a senior officer.
While the exact number of CCTV cameras on the route is not being revealed, police officials have informed that this will be in addition to the 218 existing cameras in the city. The footage will be viewed in three control rooms – D B Marg police station, V P Road police station and Girgaum Chowpatty,” the officer added. This move is to reduce theft, pickpocketing, harassment and assault cases that are routinely reported on the last day of Ganesh immersion.
According to data provided by the Traffic Police department, there are more than 7,000 public Ganpatis across the city and 1.23 lakh household Ganpati idols. The city has 88 marked immersion points, with Girgaum Chowpatty, Dadar Chowpatty, Juhu Beach, Versova beach and Madh-Marve beach being the most popular.
Traffic diversions
To avoid traffic snarls, the police will shut down 49 roads and 55 more will allow only one way traffic. Heavy vehicles are banned on 18 roads and 99 roads have been converted to no-parking zones. The traffic police will monitor the situation from five control rooms specially created for the last day of visarjan.
Several groups such as the National Service Scheme and National Cadet Corps, along with NGOs, will help the traffic police co-ordinate traffic flow and reduce jams by making about 10,000 volunteers available.
Security officials manning the city
The Mumbai Police will have more than 40,000 policemen on duty which includes 3,352 policemen at the officer level monitoring various locations. Traffic police will have 3,410 constables manning traffic and various routes. There will also be 250 female officers and 4,500 constables to curb the crowds
There are 10 companies of State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), two companies of Rapid Action Force, 500 Homeguards and two companies of the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) manning the streets and assisting the officers on bandobast duty.
In addition to manpower, the Mumbai Police will also have drones keeping an eye in the air especially at Girgaum Chowpatty. The DB Marg police station will monitor the drones and provide the police with an interrupted lookout point to the area.
