Pause for a moment to thank these guys!

Ogo Bongobashi (Oh my dear Bengalis)! As you celebrate Durga Puja in all its glory, with new dresses, kosha-mangsho and pandal hopping to all the best Pujo pandals in Kolkata, pause a moment to thank the guys who are making life easier (if not easiest) for you! And they do it all, by sacrificing their own Pujo celebrations.

Yes, I’m talking about the humongous task of traffic management that the Kolkata police is taking care of during Durga Puja.

Image Source: Internet

Image Source: Internet

With population during festive times crossing 10 million in the city from an original population of 5 million, i.e, almost double the population, and a limited road space of only 6% of the total city area available for traffic movement, managing traffic during festive times is not easy [1]. According to a news reported by The Indian Express, this year 12000 police personnel will be deployed across the city. Along with this, arrangements will be made to put a vigil on the city using 750 CCTV cameras, 46 watch towers and drones [2].

“In addition to this, the women, child and social welfare department has also collaborated with Kolkata Police to launch a special project ‘Bandhu Kolkata’, under which they have distributed CDs to different puja committees with helpline numbers. They have issued a special helpline number ‘9002999999’, which will help pandal hoppers trace missing persons” [2].

However, the traffic police cannot do it all by themselves. Thanks to the 1,000 NCC volunteers, 400 NGO volunteers and 500 temporary crowd controlling volunteers who will be supporting the police in this mammoth task [2].

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Image Source: Internet

If you want to get live updates on the traffic situation within the city, do not worry. Kolkata Traffic Police has made an effort to put up life updates on their facebook page and twitter handle. Just follow them at https://www.facebook.com/KolkataTrafficPolice/?fref=ts and @KolkataPolice for live updates.