Varanasi: District magistrate Satyendra Kumar and police commissioner Mohit Agarwal jointly chaired a District Peace Committee meeting at Traffic Police Lines auditorium on Friday to review preparations for the peaceful conduct of Durga Puja and Dussehra celebrations.Organisers of Durga Puja, Ramleela committees and fair committees from across the district attended the meeting. Officials reviewed past arrangements and heard suggestions and concerns raised by the committee members.Several organisers highlighted issues of damaged electricity poles, hanging wires, potholes on routes leading to idol installation and immersion sites. Electricity department and Public Works department officials were directed to immediately repair damaged wires, poles and roads.The DM instructed PWD, Municipal Corporation and District Panchayat to complete patchwork and road repairs on priority. Jal Kal department was directed to ensure clean drinking water supply and install mobile toilets at required locations.VMC was asked to maintain cleanliness at the pandal and idol immersion sites. In rural areas, the District Panchayati Raj Officer was directed to deploy sanitation workers for cleanliness arrangements.The DM asked the organisers to arrange emergency lights and generators at Puja pandals as backup lighting and said that idol immersion would be permitted only in ponds, tanks and water bodies with sufficient water, and no new tradition would be allowed.Police commissioner Mohit Agarwal directed all the ACPs and station in-charges to hold coordination meetings with committee members at their respective police stations and remain alert.Directives were also issued for deployment of women police personnel at Ramleela and fair venues, adequate deployment for traffic management and crowd control. Organisers were asked to ensure proper barricading at pandal sites, Ramleela venues and Ravan Dahan locations, and to conclude programmes within the scheduled time.He appealed to organisers not to block entire roads during idol immersion processions and strictly follow designated routes. He also urged them to report any misleading information on social media to the police administration.All station in-charges were asked to inspect pandals and idol immersion sites in their areas. He advised organisers to maintain the dignity of the festival by avoiding playing obscene songs and to use only one or two sound boxes during processions and immersion.Organisers were also directed to deploy adequate volunteers at puja pandals, provide them with separate jerseys, badges or identity cards, and submit their lists to the concerned police stations. Large pandals were advised to install CCTV cameras to strengthen security.
