At Dagdusheth mandal,thick security cover keeps crowd going

Like Lavates,every family and devotee trying to seek darshan of the lord has to go through a two-tier security system installed by the police this year. At both Belbaug chowk and Budhwar chowk,eight to ten police personnel have been posted to check baggage being carried by citizens. From a watch tower erected on the Shivaji Road,two commandos keep watch on the movement on the road. The Civil Defence personnel stand guard along the metal railings,from where devotees make their way to the idol.

The Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Trust has also deployed over 250 security personnel who ring the pandal premises 24X7. You bump into police personnel either keeping a hawk’s eye or scanning bags on every road around the pandal. A private security firm has also deployed over 250 personnel for a few hours in the evening. “We are here to ensure crowd control,” says Jagannath Kulkarni of the Aniruddh’s Academy of Disaster Management.

Assistant police inspector N Ahirrao,on duty near the pandal,says they are checking every bag and keeping a close watch on the movement of people.

“The security cover around the Dagdusheth pandal is unprecedented,” says Ashok Godse,president of the Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Trust. “Our trust and the police are working in close association to ensure a safe darshan for devotees.” Godse says they are satisfied with the security arrangements made by the police. The police,on the other hand,say the crowd is cooperative and doesn’t take umbrage at their bags being scanned.

It looked as if the police had taken over the Shivaji Road on Wednesday. Vinayak Godse of the Dagdusheth Trust,however,says it is because the rush is not even 15 per cent of what it is every year. “The rains have played a spoilsport.”