SAMBALPUR: IN a bid to keep a tab on criminal activities and better crowd management during the Durga Puja celebration, Sambalpur district police have instructed the Durga Puja organising committees to instal Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at the puja pandals. Durga Puja is scheduled to begin on October 16 and conclude on October 19.
Sambalpur Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Arora said they have discussed the issue with the Puja organising committees and the panels have agreed to instal surveillance cameras. They have asked the Puja committees to instal the CCTV cameras at pandals and crowded places of their respective areas, he said.
The installation of CCTV cameras will help them keep a watch on anti-socials, including pickpockets and eve-teasers. It will discourage anti-socials from indulging in criminal activities besides creating fear among mischief-mongers that any attempt of wrongdoing will be grabbed by the CCTV, he said.
Apart from this, the CCTV will help them with crowd management and better surveillance, the SP added.
The police have also instructed the Puja organising committees to make puja revellers aware about pickpocketing and snatching through audio message, banners and leaflets. Durga Puja is organised at around 70 places in the city and lakhs of people throng the puja pandals during the festival.
Arora said they have instructed the committees to take adequate precautionary measures to avoid any fire mishap during the festival. They have also asked the fire officials to visit the pandals, which attract huge crowd, and inspect whether adequate precautionary measures have been taken, he added. Moreover, the police have imposed restriction on DJs and music. All the DJ owners and the Puja committees have been asked to play sound system within 65 decibels. Legal action will be taken against the committees and the DJ owners for violation of the guidelines, he informed.They have issued advisory to the committees to complete all cultural programmes during the festival and immersion procession before 10 pm, he added.
Ban on liquor sale during Dussehra
Jeypore : Sale of liquor will be banned during Dussehra in Jeypore and its peripheral areas this year. The decision was taken at a meeting of Dussehra puja committee, chaired by local legislator Tara Prasad Bahinipati, here on Saturday. The members of the committee said criminal activities, especially harassment of women on the last day of Dussehra in the town, take place due to consumption of liquor by anti-social elements. Jeypore sub-collector and police officials agreed to implement the ban on the last day of the festival. Besides, the committee resolved to maintain discipline in temples and regulate traffic during the festival.