Cuttack: Detailed guidelines have been issued by the Commissionerate Police regarding safety, crowd control, and noise levels for the smooth conduct of upcoming Ganesh Puja festival in Cuttack city.
Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo said that all the puja mandaps in the city will be required to use high-quality or new wires for electrical connections and have fire extinguishers on site to prevent accidents.
Ahead of the festival, a preparatory meeting was held on Tuesday to chalk out plans for smooth celebrations of Ganesh Puja. The meeting also resolved the issue of Ganesh Visarjan dates.
While Ganesh Puja will be celebrated on August 27 this year, idol immersion ceremony will be held in the first phase on August 31 and then on September 7 and 14 in second and third phases. A separate date will be fixed for the immersion of Budha Ganesh. This year Ganesh Puja will be celebrated in around 1200 mandaps.
The Commissionerate Police emphasised the importance of maintaining a spiritual atmosphere during the celebrations and avoiding modernity displays. Puja committees will be required to obtain permission from local police stations for their events.
The police also laid down guidelines for cultural events and immersion processions. As per the directives, no obscenity will be allowed during cultural events, and all programmes must conclude by 10 pm.
This apart, the use of sound limiters has been made mandatory for all immersion processions. This step is expected to help maintain a controlled noise level during the processions ensuring a peaceful environment.
A senior police official said that there will be a zero-tolerance policy for goons and on the extortion of money in the name of Puja donations (Puja Chanda) during Ganesh Puja.
On the other hand, the Puja committee and the Peace Committee members have suggested the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) to organise the traffic, street lights, drinking water facilities, immersion and artificial ponds for the immersion rituals.
The Police is in action mode before the two major festivals that is Ganesh Puja and Durga Puja.
