Kolkata Police has deployed 12,000 personnel and 20,000 temporary home guards across the city from Chaturthi to manage Durga Puja crowds, while a separate traffic operation involving 6,000 traffic police and 6,000 temporary traffic home guards has been put in place as congestion builds on key roads.
The deployment began on Wednesday after a meeting on Tuesday between senior Lalbazar officials, officers-in-charge of traffic guards and other traffic authorities. The meeting resulted in several decisions on traffic control as large crowds gathered at puja pandals, shopping areas and transport routes ahead of the main festival days.
Police have been instructed to take strict action against helmetless motorcyclists and triple-riding, particularly on important roads including the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass. The focus comes as complaints of severe congestion have emerged from Kolkata and its suburbs over the past few days.
Kolkata Police Commissioner Ajay Nanda said on Tuesday that the city receives visitors from outside Kolkata during the puja period, increasing pedestrian movement and road-crossing activity. He said traffic problems could worsen when vehicles and pedestrians move without adequate discipline at the same time. The commissioner also acknowledged that the rise in crowds during office hours had caused inconvenience to commuters, but said the situation would ease soon.
The traffic pressure is also being felt on the Maa flyover. According to the commissioner, traffic from New Town and Kolkata is converging on the flyover, adding to the load on the elevated route. To prevent breakdowns from causing prolonged blockages, Kolkata Police is arranging for vehicles that malfunction on the flyover to be moved to the side and removed with small cranes.
The police response comes as crowd movement increases around major shopping and festival areas. Garियাহাট in south Kolkata, New Market and Dharmatala in central Kolkata, and Hatibagan and Shyambazar in north Kolkata have reported heavy footfall linked to last-minute puja shopping. Jadavpur, Kasba, Park Circus and areas around shopping malls in north Kolkata are also seeing increased crowds.
The traffic challenge is being intensified by the overlap between festival visitors, shoppers and office-hour commuters. Police said traffic in several parts of the city was moving slowly, while traffic officers had been deployed to restore normal movement as quickly as possible.
The scale of the deployment reflects the difficulty of managing Kolkata’s streets during the puja period, when road space must accommodate vehicles, pedestrians, visitors and crowds gathering near large pandals. Lalbazar’s traffic arrangements will remain focused on congestion control, road safety enforcement and the rapid removal of stalled vehicles from important routes, including the Maa flyover.
