The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Police gear up for Pongala

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Wednesday, Feb 06, 2008
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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Police gear up for Pongala

Staff Reporter

45 lakh devotees expected to make Pongala offerings
at Attukal on
February 22

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An estimated 45 lakh women devotees are expected to make Pongala offerings in the city on February 22, the peak day of the Attukal Devi Temple festival, which starts on February 14.

The police anticipate a 10 per cent increase in the number of devotees this year. More than 3,000 policemen, including at least 200 officers and 400 women constables, will be deployed in the city on Pongala day.

The police will put in place video surveillance systems for crowd control and detection of petty crimes such as purse lifting, chain snatching, harassment of women and pick pocketing.

Elevated surveillance platforms will be erected at vantage points to help law enforcers survey the festival area better. The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad will be deployed to prevent any sabotage attempts.

Loudspeakers

The police will stringently enforce the High Court restrictions on the use of loudspeakers in the festival area. Mike sanctions will be given only sparingly. Those operating loud speakers will have to strictly adhere by the provisions of the Noise Pollution Rules, 2000, including limiting the intensity of sound below 55 decibels.

The police will not allow the use of loud speakers after 10 p.m. and before 6 a.m. Last year, the police had failed to curb sound pollution in the festival area despite scores of complaints from citizens who said their privacy, peace of mind and health were being adversely affected by the round-the-clock high decibel noise. The police will prosecute those who advertise products through loud speakers.

The police said they will not allow anybody to appropriate road space for erecting stages and sheds (pandals) in the festival area. Arch-shaped advertisement boards, which cover the road in a single span, will be removed if such hoardings impede traffic or endanger public safety.

Anti-social elements will not be allowed to extort money from traders and residents in the name of conducting festivities.

Control rooms

The police will open two control rooms, equipped with medical staff and toll-free telephone lines, inside the Attukal temple complex. Plainclothes women will be deployed inside the temple and also near bathing ghats of temple ponds used by women. Policewomen on duty will not be allowed to make Pongala offerings.

Pongala hearths will be allowed only on roadsides and foot paths. The carriageway of main thoroughfares will be kept open for the speedy movement of vehicles of emergency services.

The police will keep open the Killipalam-Attukal temple road for emergency movement of vehicles. They will use ropes and barricades to regulate pedestrian movement in the vicinity of the temple.

The police deployment for the festival will be in two phases. The first phase from February 14 to 21 will be under the control of two Assistant Commissioners of Police who will command nearly 350 police personnel.

The second phase will start at 1 p.m. on February 21 under the supervision of Commissioner of Police Ravada Azad Chandasekhar and his deputies M. Wahab (Law and Order) and S. Somanatha Pillai (administration). They will command nearly 2,500 police personnel, half of them drawn from other districts.

The police expect devotees to occupy the road up to Palayam and perhaps beyond. No parking of vehicles will be allowed on the stretches occupied by devotees. The police are yet to finalise the traffic arrangements, including designation of areas for parking vehicles. The police expect at least 40,000 vehicles carrying devotees from other regions to enter the city on Pongala day.

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