Each cop to visit a mandal thrice daily: Diktat for police personnel

Pimpri-Chinchwad has over 1,000 Ganesh mandals while the police commissionerate, the boundaries of which go beyond the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) limits, has over 1,700 Ganesh mandals.

“We are monitoring every Ganesh mandal in our jurisdiction. Our police personnel have been directed to visit Ganesh mandals in respective station jurisdictions throughout the day,” Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissioner Ankush Shinde told The Indian Express.

“One police personnel has to make at least three visits to a Ganesh mandal a day. They have to interact with the volunteers and keep all the information about the mandal and the way they are celebrating the festival. The police personnel have to keep a watch on the volume of the loudspeakers. If they find that the volume is too loud, they have to bring it to the notice of the mandal president or other office-bearers. Similarly, the cultural activities organised by the mandal have to be monitored to ensure that they are held in peace and not lead to any problem,” the police chief said.

The difference this time is that the police have to spend much of their duty time around the Ganesh mandal allotted to them, officials said. A woman police constable at a Kasarwadi Ganesh mandal told The Indian Express: “I come around 10 in the morning and leave by 10 pm. Throughout the day, I have to keep a close watch on the activities of the mandal. If I find something amiss or not as per the norms, I report it on our Whatsapp group. Soon our seniors land at the spot to question the mandal office-bearers.”

Women constables who do have two-wheelers station themselves at the pandals of the Ganesh mandals while others keep visiting their respective police stations.

Pranav Kale, president of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Tarun Mandal, Kasarwadi, said: “Since our pandal is located at a busy chowk, we take care to ensure that our activities do not cause any problem to the general public. The police have been regularly visiting our pandal and interacting with us.”

Kale said they have not been using the loudspeakers for the last five years. “We avoid loudspeakers as it causes sound pollution. Even otherwise, the police are strict with loudspeakers and we do not want to be called to the police station and subjected to unnecessary questioning. Anyway, we are avoiding the use of loudspeakers on our own,” he said.

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Bhaskar Jadhav, senior police inspector, Bhosari police station, said: “We have 118 Ganesh mandals under our jurisdiction. We have appointed 11 senior officers and 110 constables to monitor the Ganesh mandals. They have to do the patrolling throughout the day. Besides keeping a close watch on the mandals, the police personnel also have to ensure that there is no overcrowding of any sort near the pandals which could create problems. Since we also have to take care of immersions on river ghats, the same police personnel are also employed for the purpose.”

Meanwhile, the PCMC has stationed 10 well-equipped ambulances at 10 prominent river ghats in the industrial city. “Besides medical teams, well-equipped ambulances will be stationed during the immersions at 10 prominent river ghats,” said municipal commissioner Shekhar Singh. The prominent ghats include the ones in Pimple Gurav, Wakad, Pradhikaran, Chikhli, Thergaon, Pimpri, Sangvi, Moshi and Walhekarwadi. The medical teams will be stationed at the ghat areas from September 4 to September 9 when most immersions will take place.