Kolkata: Lalbazar has instructed all police stations under Kolkata Police to initiate an advance security audit for this year’s Durga Puja, mandating field officers to immediately identify controversial pandal themes and monitor internal committee rivalries that could possibly trigger law-and-order disruptions. Officers said this is probably the first time that cops have been asked to prepare reports on internal factionalism in puja committees that are witnessing sea change following the change in the state govt.The top brass emphasised the need for preemptive tracking of festive venues, citing public controversies of the past five years where sensitive pandal designs created “unwanted controversies”. Past incidents included a disputed depiction of a political figure at a Kasba venue, a controversial medical theme in central Kolkata, and agricultural protest depictions utilising footwear elements in Dum Dum.On the to-do list for OCs, sent from commissioner Ajay Nand’s office, are “identification of pandals with a controversial, sensitive or otherwise high-attraction theme that may potentially attract an exceptionally large congregation” and identifying “any inter-group rivalry, internal dispute or other contentious issue among members of puja committees, which may have the potential to affect law-and-order or smooth conduction of the puja”.Senior officers have been directed to conduct detailed ground assessments and submit actionable reports within a fortnight.Police stations must compile an exhaustive inventory of all registered puja committees and pandals operating within their respective jurisdictions, while meticulously documenting any addition or deletion of festive venues compared to the previous year. The field reports are required to outline specialized crowd circulation strategies, explicitly pinpointing expected high-density concentration zones, pedestrian dispersal pathways, and major bottlenecks along critical access roads.Beyond administrative logistics, police officers must actively engage with organisers to evaluate pandals’ structural arrangements. Instructions have been issued to ensure Puja committees adjust their entry and exit gates appropriately, erect sturdy barricades, and maintain clear corridors for emergency vehicle movement.
