Elaborate arrangement for festival seasons
During festival seasons, vehicles and people jostle for space on Oppanakkara Street. With an eye on the coming Deepavali festival the police have made elaborate arrangements in the city where shopping centres are located.As companies have started disbursing bonus, people too are on the street picking up anything from textiles, mobile phones and other consumer durables to jewellery. To protect them from criminal elements, the police held a meeting on taking preventive measures. City Police Commissioner, C.K. Gandhirajan; Deputy Commissioners of Police P. Sugumaran (Law and Order), P. Nagarajan (Crime), S. Manoharan (Traffic) and S.V. Karuppasamy (Headquarters) attended.
The Deputy Commissioner of Armed Reserve, M. Balakrishnan, has deputed men and women constables from the Armed Reserve to ensure visible policing.The security plans drawn up included cycle patrolling and traffic regulations at parking lots and junctions. Traffic constables with megaphones will regulate the crowd.Police constables with binoculars will be deployed on high-rise buildings to maintain surveillance. These personnel will have wireless walkie-talkie sets to ensure instant action, if ex-convicts, history-sheeters, known offenders or those wanted in connection with crimes are detected among the festive crowd.Surveillance cameras and 360 degree speed dome cameras are being fitted on Oppanakkara Street, DB Road and Cross Cut Road.
Police in plainclothes will be deployed too.The police have already started taking into custody pocket pickers and ex-convicts, criminals and rowdy elements. So far, 30 people have been taken into custody. This will continue till Deepavali is over. The police have asked the people not to break pumpkins on the road as part of religious ritual and burst fire crackers on the middle of the road. This is likely to endanger the safety of road users. Those bursting crackers having decibel levels beyond the permissible limits after 10 p.m. will be booked.The police have decided to implement strictly the ban on entry of trucks, especially from Ukkadam, on city roads from eight a.m. to 10 p.m. In case of emergencies, merchants have to carry loads in mini cargo vehicles to the lorry pet for loading and vice versa.
The Fire and Rescue Services Department and the burns ward at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital have been asked to remain in a state of readiness. In areas where there are houses with thatched roofs, peole have been asked to refrain from bursting rocket crackers.To ease the pressure on roads, the police have decided to ban parking of vehicles on Oppanakkara Road, DB Road and Cross Cut Road from October 26 to Deepavali day (November 8). Motorists should make use of the Meenakshi Parking Stand and the parking stand in front of Koniamman temple on Oppanakkara Street.On DB Road parking will be permitted on Sastri Maidan and by lanes. On Cross Cut Road parking will be permitted only on the Corporation parking ground on Eighth Street, near the market, and near the Ganga hospital.
