Kolkata Durga Puja security arrangements will cover 2,981 pandals this year, with Kolkata Police deploying personnel, volunteers, patrol vehicles, emergency teams and additional staff near metro stations to manage crowds and prevent incidents across the city. The plan will begin from Tritiya, while the full security deployment will become active from the evening of Chaturthi, according to a report by Sanmarg citing information from Lalbazar.
The number of pandals has increased by more than 400 compared with the previous year, raising the demand for crowd control, traffic management and emergency response during the festival. Around 20,000 volunteers will assist police personnel in managing visitors and maintaining movement around the pandals.
Jadavpur, identified in the report as the SSD division, has the highest number of pandals at 685. Behala follows with 598, while East Kolkata has 335 and North Kolkata has 312. South Kolkata has 258 pandals, followed by Southeast Kolkata with 208, East division with 193, Bhangar with 148, Central Kolkata with 128 and the Port division with 116.
Special security arrangements have been planned around major pandals including College Square, Mohammad Ali Park, Santosh Mitra Square and Allen Park, as well as prominent pandals in south Kolkata. Police pickets will be placed near large pandals, while officers will monitor entry and exit routes to help visitors move between locations. Police officers and personnel will take charge of street-level arrangements from 4 pm every day.
The police plan also accounts for daytime crowds. Authorities expect many visitors to attend pandals in the morning or afternoon before returning home by evening. Adequate police personnel will therefore be deployed during the day at 27 pandals. Each police division will also provide security at an average of 10 to 15 smaller pandals, with teams of four to eight personnel led by a sergeant or assistant sub-inspector.
For rapid response, the city will have 20 heavy radio flying squads and 10 special radio flying squads deployed in two phases, along with 30 PCR mobile vans. The vans will remain in contact with the traffic police and assist fire tenders in reaching a pandal or surrounding area in the event of a fire.
Crowd surveillance will be supported by 42 watchtowers, where police personnel will use binoculars to monitor movement and suspicious activity. Police assistance centres will operate near major pandals, while seven mobile police assistance vans will patrol the city. Six traffic police assistance booths and quick response teams at nine locations will provide additional support. The quick response teams will include armed commandos and combat force personnel.
The security plan extends to idol immersion between October 21 and 24. Three Kolkata Police launches will patrol 15 ghats, with another launch assigned to monitor additional immersion locations. Police and rescue teams will remain alert at the ghats to respond to emergencies and regulate crowds.
Medical and missing-person support will also be available. Fourteen police ambulances and 14 trauma-care ambulances will be kept ready, while 10 missing-person squad vehicles will search for children and elderly visitors who become separated from their groups. Police personnel will also be deployed outside 32 metro stations, where large numbers of festival visitors are expected to arrive and depart. The deployment schedule and immersion patrols are the next operational milestones in the citywide plan.
