Kolkata: Cops on Tuesday started their final round of pre-Durga Puja inspection, focusing on the addition at Allen Park on Park Street. Known for its Christmas and New Year celebrations, Allen Park will host a puja organised by Kolkata Sanatani Sangha, a group headed by several BJP functionaries.The organisers say they want to create a grand celebration rooted in Bengali traditions and Sanatani rituals, with cultural programmes ranging from baul music and Chhau dance to performances from Kailash Kher and Shankar Mahadevan, aarti modelled on Ganga aarti in Varanasi, and prasad distribution.Allen Park’s association with public celebrations stretches back to the Park Street Carnival, which began at the venue in 2007. The carnival was taken over by Bengal govt after 2011 and rechristened ‘Christmas Festival’, becoming a major part of Kolkata’s year-end celebrations. The new Durga Puja is set to add a new chapter to the venue’s story.Police have flagged the Allen Park puja as a major crowd-management challenge. CP Ajay Nand stressed the need to strike a balance between celebrations and traffic, particularly on Park Street, where cultural programmes are also scheduled.“Traffic should be smooth and visitors should face no inconvenience,” he said.The CP’s eight-pandal inspection, which started with Allen Park at 11 am, concluded with a visit to the Santosh Mitra Square puja, which has been among the biggest crowd-pullers. The checks focused on crowd movement, fire safety, entry-exit arrangements, and traffic management.The other pandals inspected on Tuesday were Agrani, Suruchi Sangha, Deshapriya Park, Tridhara Sammilani, Ekdalia Evergreen and College Square. “There is a standard procedure for inspecting major pujas. Primarily, we look at crowd circulation and the safety and security of visitors. We also examine fire safety, entry and exit arrangements, and CCTV surveillance,” Nand said.He said arrangements were progressing satisfactorily but cautioned that crowd volumes could change unexpectedly if a particular puja theme became a major attraction. “We will talk about that as well with the organisers,” he said.At Santosh Mitra Square, Nand was asked about allegations that revellers arriving from Sealdah, including by train and metro, were made to take long detours through bamboo barricades to reach the venue. Asked about the route plan this year, Nand said there would be “zero harassment” for visitors.
