Mumbai: Mumbai Police will be on guard starting Tuesday morning, considering multiple events that will take place in various parts of the city, from rallies conducted by the two Shiv Senas at Dadar and Azad Maidan to the World Cup match between South Africa and Bangladesh at Wankhede Stadium, Churchgate. Adding to that, being the last day of Navratri, the immersion or ‘visarjan’ of Durga idols will take place on Tuesday.
According to police officials, more than 14,000 police personnel on standby to maintain the law-and-order situation are being deployed. “With huge gatherings, including political events, there ought to be clashes and hence it’s necessary we do everything in our power to maintain law and order. Our personnel will report on duty, despite some being on holiday for various reasons. There are no one or two events, and whatever the number is, it does not matter. All events are a priority and we have made sure there is security at every end,” said a senior police official.
Mumbai's police force is well-prepared for Tuesday
The official mentioned that six additional police commissioners, 16 deputy commissioners of police, and 45 assistant police commissioners, will be leading the police tropes. 2,493 police officers will be on duty, who will guide 12,449 bandobast duty police officers, he said, adding that a special team of 33 personnel from the State Reserve Police Force, along with the Quick Reaction Team and Homeguard personnel will be on standby as well, in case of emergency or riot-like situation.
These personnel will be deployed at Azad Maidan near CSMT, where Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will be leading a rally, followed by the Ramleela function, and on both these occasions, a large crowd is expected. At the same time, at Dadar’s Shivaji Park, former chief minister Uddhav Thackery will hold a rally. The Mumbai Traffic Police officials will be present at the spot, arranging and managing the traffic situation, while the bandobast troops will look into maintaining the law and order situation.
“Both the rallies are sensitive as the supporters who are expected to arrive in huge numbers using public transport or their vehicles, tend to have clashes due to their differences. It’s also a working day on Tuesday so we have coordinated with the traffic police to avoid any congestion, and at the same time, our security forces will make sure things are under control,” added the official.
By Tuesday's second half, several mandaps or pandals will begin their journey for the immersion process of the goddess Durga idol. In order to avoid any mishaps or confusion, police personnel will be deployed at sensitive places – including Chowpattys, traffic signals, junctions, etc. Police personnel from respective jurisdictions will be tagged along the beat marshalls and safety personnel near the water bodies.
Huge crowd expected to watch Bangladesh-South Africa match
At South Mumbai’s Churchgate, another set of large crowds is expected to arrive to watch the World Cup match between Bangladesh and South Africa at the Wankhede Stadium. The traffic cops have already closed all parking facilities in the nearby routes to avoid traffic choke-ups and designated special parking facilities. “Yet we suggest the spectators use public modes of transport which will be convenient, including buses and local trains. Many of the roads near the stadium have been made into a one-way route, hence spectators should be vigilant. The ones found parking at ‘no-parking’ spots will be penalised with e-challan and their vehicles will be towed,” said a senior traffic police official.
The places where Ramleela programmes are organised shall have a special team of police personnel deployed in order to avoid any untoward incident.
