Dwaipayan.GhoshKolkata: With barely a week left for Bengal’s biggest festival, Kolkata Police is busy finishing its homework, the police meeting stretching late into Monday night.At the heart of KP’s concern are 25 new pujas, or the ones that are set to get even bigger this year. “They are likely to emerge as ‘the new biggies’ this year. This includes Park Street’s Allen Park, Netaji Sarak in Behala and Rajdanga Amra Kayjan Kalyan Samiti that is located close to the more famous Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha. Among others on this list are the ones like Baisnabghata Patuli Upanagari Sarbojonin and Shakuntala park Netaji Sangha.”Allen Park — traditionally famous for its Christmas celebrations — is set to become a premier attraction this Durga Puja, hosting grand musical performances by star artistes and a prominent surprise performer whose identity remains undisclosed. To accommodate the massive crowds expected during the festive evenings, Kolkata Traffic Police is preparing to implement major vehicular diversions.Traffic guards will be deployed along key intersections in the Park Street region to manage vehicular flow and prevent congestion throughout the festival evenings. Cops confirmed that Park Street will not be shut at any cost to ensure east-central movement.The police said they are also likely to shut some smaller roads around Free School Street to allow revellers undisrupted access to another puja set to become big in the New Market area.Some bylanes around Baisnabghata will be shut and alternative routes carved out for the Upanagari puja that is already popular on social media. Similarly, pressure on Biren Roy Road – both East and West – is set to increase with two new biggies. The cops stated that the local police have been asked to identify alternative roads for two-wheelers here. Cops claim that Netaji Sarak, located at Muchipara off Siriti, is a major headache as it hardly has alternatives.While Alipore Sarbojonin has turned into a big puja in the past two years, this year early trends show it is set to rival both Chetla Agrani and Suruchi Sangha this year. “We need to regulate traffic at the Bardhaman Road Crossing as much near the Sri Sri Academy School that can impact overall traffic movement towards both Rashbehari Avenue and New Alipore,” said an officer.
