Kolkata: Kolkata Police has directed all city police stations to begin advance security and crowd management planning for Durga Puja, with a focus on identifying potentially controversial pandal themes and preparing crowd circulation plans well before the festival.The instruction followed a virtual review meeting chaired by police commissioner Ajay Kumar Nand with officers-in charge and senior officials at Lalbazar on Tuesday, primarily to discuss Rath Yatra arrangements. However, the early Durga Puja directives in July surprised some middle-level officers.Senior officials stressed preemptive monitoring of major festive venues, citing controversies over the past five years involving pandal designs and obstruction of key roads.Lalbazar has asked station heads to gather advance details on the concepts and construction plans of major, high-budget pujas. Police will coordinate with puja committees, organisers and theme designers in the coming weeks to assess safety compliance and prevent public order issues.OCs and traffic officers have also been asked to prepare local crowd movement plans, assess expected footfall and design road barricading systems for major venues.
