Over 1K personnel on duty at CR Park, vigilance stepped up after Kolkata stampede

“No vehicle is allowed inside,” a paramilitary personnel standing between two barricades told an elderly devout headed to a Durga Puja pandal at Chittaranjan Park in South Delhi. Locals say this is probably the only time of the year when paramilitary troops can be seen on duty in the area.

A day after 19 people were killed in a stampede in the Chorbagan area of Kolkata amid Durga Puja celebrations, security personnel are even more vigilant in CR Park, officers told The Indian Express on Sunday. “We have made sure that no unnecessary vehicles are inside the area, so that there is ample space for public movement in face of any untoward incident,” said Additional DCP (South) Aishwarya.

Officers said that more than 500 police officers are deployed across the area. In addition to that, there are three companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), with one more company ready to join if needed, taking the total number of security personnel on duty to nearly 1,000. Each CAPF company has about 80-100 personnel.

Devotees come to CR Park for some of the most prominent Durga Puja pandals in the Capital, including the ones at Mela Block, K Block and B Block.

People brave the constant traffic snarls starting from Greater Kailash —- with even a 1-km stretch taking more than 20 minutes to cross — to reach the area for pandal- hopping.

Police officers said that at the biggest of pandals, which see a footfall of more than 50,000 a day, an inspector-rank officer has been separately assigned to manage the security.

One of them is the Kali Mandir pandal, in the B Block, which has its own army of sorts of guards to help the security personnel.

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“We have 150-160 private security personnel at the pandal. They were all trained for six weeks ahead of the Puja. We have a retired army colonel as our security chief,” said Dr Shirshendu Mukherjee, Secretary, Kali Mandir society.

The Kali Mandir pandal is divided into five blocks, with two normal exit gates, and five emergency exits. Each block has a supervisor, and the whole area is covered by CCTVs attached to a central command.

About 5,000- 7,000 people, Dr. Mukherjee, visit the pandal during puja time in the day, while the number crosses 50,000 in the night. “We even have a separate stall for Delhi Police officers to sit. We have all the fire clearances and yet have four private fire marshals. What happened in Kolkata was very sad. And we won’t take any risks,” he said.