Police announce guidelines for Ganpati visarjan day

The police specified that each dhol-tasha group would not be allowed to carry more than 50 dhols and 15 tashas, and that the mandals would not be allowed to carry more than 2+2 sound systems for the immersion procession

PUNE: Ahead of the tenth and last day of this year’s Ganesh festival on Thursday, September 28, a press conference was held at the police commissioner’s office on Tuesday in which guidelines were announced for Ganesh mandals and dhol-tasha groups to follow during the Ganpati immersion procession on Thursday.

Retesh Kumaarr said that if the immersion procession of Dagdusheth Ganpati started at 4 pm, they were ready to fill in the gap between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm. (Shankar Narayan/ HT PHOTO)

At the press conference, Sandeep Singh Gill, deputy commissioner of police (DCP), zone 1, said, “We had a detailed meeting with the Ganesh mandals wherein it was decided that each mandal will not use more than two or three dhol-tasha groups during the immersion procession. All the mandals have assured us that they will adhere to these norms, so we are hoping that the immersion procession will not go on for longer than the previous years.”

The police specified that each dhol-tasha group would not be allowed to carry more than 50 dhols and 15 tashas, and that the mandals would not be allowed to carry more than 2+2 sound systems for the immersion procession.

Gill further said that the immersion procession of each Ganesh mandal would halt for 10 minutes at each of the three points, namely Belbaug Chowk, Seva Sadan Chowk, and Alka Chowk. This would help speed up the procession, he said.

Also present at the press conference were police commissioner Retesh Kumaarr; joint commissioner of police Sandeep Karnik; DCP (traffic) Vijay Kumar Magar; DCP (special branch) R Raja; and DCP (crime) Amol Zende.

Kumaarr said that if the immersion procession of Dagdusheth Ganpati started at 4 pm, they were ready to fill in the gap between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm, given that prominent Ganpati mandals including the Akhil Mandai Ganpati Mandal, Shrimant Bhausaheb Rangari Ganpati Trust Mandal, Shree Jilbya Maruti Ganpati Mandal, and Hutatma Babu Genu Ganpati Mandal had decided to participate in the procession 6 pm onwards. Addressing the press conference, Kumaar said, “A call will be taken on this as per the situation but to reduce the time taken by the annual immersion procession, we are ready to fill in the gap between 4.30 pm and 6.30 pm. Everything depends on the situation and we are hopeful that the mandals, police and people will coordinate with each other for a peaceful procession.’’

There will be heavy police bandobast during the immersion procession this year. Nine-thousand police personnel will be deployed along with two teams of the State Reserve Police Force, Rapid Action Force, Quick Response Team, and Bomb Detection Squad. There will be 15 police help centres and 40 watch towers along the procession route to increase police presence on ground. The police will use 205 CCTV cameras plus private CCTV cameras to keep a close watch on the procession.

Meanwhile, Magar informed that a total 17 roads would be closed for vehicular movement on September 28 and 29, and that restrictions would be lifted at the end of that period. He urged people to use the Pune Ring Road as given in the map. He said that 10 points of diversion had been declared during the immersion procession. Further, people could park their vehicles at