CUTTACK: With a few days left for Ganesh Puja, the Cuttack police have issued a set of guidelines pertaining to safety, crowd and noise control for smooth conduct of the festival in the city.
In the preparatory meeting held at Sarala Bhawan here recently, DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo announced that all puja mandaps will be required to use either high quality or new wires for electric connections and have fire extinguishers ready to prevent fire mishaps.
The meeting also notified the dates for idol immersion after the celebrations on August 27. While the first phase immersion ceremony will be observed on August 31, the second and third phase immersion processions will be carried out on September 7 and 14 respectively. A separate date will be fixed for the immersion of Budha Ganesh.
Presiding over the meeting, police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh emphasised the importance of maintaining a spiritual atmosphere during the celebrations and sticking to the traditional style of idol-making. He informed that puja committees will have to obtain permission from the local police stations for organising events.
The meeting further stressed that all cultural programmes must be wrapped up by 10 pm without any display of obscenity. Besides, sound limiters must be used for controlling noise level during the immersion procession.
Among others, Cuttack mayor Subhas Singh, commissioner Kirandeep Kaur Sahota, Cuttack Mahanagar Shanti Committee president Debendra Sahu, secretary Bhikari Das, Purbanchal Shanti Committee president Bijya Sahu and secretary Prafulla Sahu were present.