Over 40,000 Cops Deployed For Ganesh Immersion, Drones Keep Eye From Sky

More than 40,000 police personnel have been deployed across Mumbai to ensure that the Ganesh idol immersion (Ganesh Visarjan) processions pass off smoothly today. Key routes of processions will be monitored by drones, an official said.

The 'Anant Chaturdashi' day, which falls today, marks conclusion of the 10-day Ganesh festival in Maharashtra.

"Over 40,000 security forces will be deployed which include special forces and reserved forces of Mumbai police. Civil defence and home guards will also be deployed," Pranay Ashok, Mumbai Police PRO said during a press briefing yesterday.

The police officials are being assisted by nine companies of State Reserve Police, 120 jawans of Rapid Action Force and over 2,000 home guards.

Key routes of processions will be monitored by drones, Mr Ashok said. Over 5,000 CCTV will keep a close watch on the people participating in the processions, he added. "In three points we are using drones to regulate and monitor the situation; the points are - Juhu Chowpatty, Girgaum Chowpatty and Powai lake," Mr Ashok said.

In Mumbai, immersion of idols will take place at 129 places including Girgaum Chowpatty, Shivaji Park, and at Juhu, Aksa, Versova and Marve beaches of the Arabian Sea.

With lakhs of people expected to participate in key processions like that of 'Lalbaug cha Raja', officials have taken appropriate security measures for crowd management.

"Policemen in civic clothes will will be part of processions to prevent any untoward incident involving women and children. Processions will be continuously monitored by more than 5000 CCTV cameras," an official was quoted as saying by Press Trust of India.

Various wings of police including the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF), Riot Control, Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad, Quick Response Teams will be deployed in the city, PTI reported.

An "anti-sabotage checking" will be conducted at every important immersion point. Apart from this, coastal police will patrol in their speed boats near immersion points.

Dear Mumbaikars, Traffic Advisory for commuters and outline Maps of #GaneshVisarjan routes for devotees heading towards various immersion points in Mumbai. https://t.co/zMYEtu1D1j pic.twitter.com/VBJv54lRJg

- Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) September 3, 2019

At least 53 roads will be closed for traffic in Mumbai while vehicular movement will be allowed one-way on 56 roads. A total of 18 roads will be closed for heavy vehicles while parking of vehicles is not allowed at 99 places.

Meanwhile, Railway Over Bridges (ROBs) at Byculla, Arthur Road (Chinchpokli railway station), Currey Road and Juhu Tara have been declared dangerous for movement of heavy vehicles by the Central Railway (CR), the official said.

"Accordingly, vehicles weighing more than 16 tonnes will not be allowed on these ROBs," the official added. Members of Ganesh pandals will be held responsible in case of any untoward incident taking place on these ROBs during immersion processions, he said.