Mumbai: As millions of devotees turned out on the streets to join the religious processions celebrating the end of the 10-day Ganesh festival, Mumbai Police was also out in full force to maintain security across the city.
Though law and order is zealously maintained by security agencies during all such occasions, this time, however, the threat perception is far more intense in the wake of Al Qaida’s announcement a few days back of forming a wing of the militant group in India. Security was also stepped up across Maharashtra, especially in Pune and Nashik cities.
The police were not taking any chances and extensive security arrangements were put in place to ensure peaceful conduct of the Ganesh immersion processions that end on the beaches of Mumbai. About 47,000 police personnel, including traffic police, accompanied by contingents of paramilitary forces, have been keeping a hawk-eye across the metropolis.
“Besides the city police, personnel drawn from Quick Response Teams, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, State Reserve Police Force, Central Reserve Police Force and Rapid Action Force have also been deployed to oversee the tight security across the city,” said Deputy Police Commissioner (Spokesperson) Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Around 6,000 large Ganesh statues installed in public places as well as 40,000 kept by families and small groups and organisations were also immersed at 72 points at the sea and 27 water bodies within the city, starting from late afternoon with the large ones expected to be immersed late in the night when there will be high tide.
The civic body engaged more than 400 life guards and placed 67 first aid teams and 55 ambulances in case of emergencies.
About 10 per cent of policemen had a special duty of keeping a watch on those who harass women and antisocial elements while 10,000 volunteers helped devotees during the immersion. In Pune, a special team of women officers were on duty to ensure safety of women and avert molestation and other offences.
To allow the smooth flow of processions, traffic police in Mumbai said a 49 roads were closed to vehicular traffic while a one way movement was allowed on 55 roads with heavy vehicles not being allowed on another 13 roads. Parking, too, was not allowed on 95 roads during the day, police said.
Five traffic control rooms were set up on the beach areas of Girgaum, Shivaji Park, near Bada Masjid in Bandra, Juhu and Powai whilst 37 watch towers were erected across the city for a smooth and safe movement of processions. Around 278 CCTVs have also been placed at various points. The civic body also installed 77 temporary toilets.
