Bijapur, September 14, 2013: Considering the sensitivity of the situation during the ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi festival, the district police has categorised 149 Ganesh pandals as hyper-sensitive and 319 as sensitive.

A total of 1552 pandals have been identified in the district where idols are installed during the festival.

Of these sensitive pandals, 200 have been identified in Bijapur city alone, according to Superintendent of Police Ajay Hilori.

Mr. Hilori said the police categorised some pandals as hyper-sensitive and sensitive based on the previous sensitivity of the area where the risk of collapse of law and order was high.

He said in the past, things has gotten tense in a few areas while the Ganesh idol procession was being taken out.

At some places, people of two different communities gather in large number, where some miscreants and trouble-mongers try to create unrest. Additional police force had been deployed at those places to avoid any untoward incident from occurring, Mr. Hilori said.

He informed that 12 platoons of District Arms Reserve (DAR), four platoons of India Reserve Battalion (IRB) have been deployed, besides this, services of 550 police personnel and 300 home guards had also been taken for maintaining law and order in the district.

He said additional force had been deployed in the communally-sensitive places, one vehicle of Fire and Emergency services and an ambulance had been stationed at Gandhi Chowk police station for emergencies.

“Close Circuit cameras have been installed in critical places of the district, arrangements have also been made to videograph some of the processions of Ganesh idols”, he said.

Ban

Meanwhile, he informed that in order to avoid any communal clashes, the controversial Hindi song ‘Banayenge Mandir’, has been banned from playing during the procession of the Ganesh idols or at the pandals.

While the district police engaged in maintaining peace, the City Municipal Council has made set up make-shift tanks for immersing the Ganesh idols.

In a release, the CMC has urged people to immerse the idols only at the tank near, Godavari hotel, Kalayan Nagar near Ayappa swamy temple, at KHB colony, Adarsh Nagar CMC complex, opposite BLDE Engineering College, BDA office on Managuli Road, and at Bhairav Nagar of the city.

The CMC has also urged people to not immerse idols in any ancient water bodies, lakes or tanks whose water is used by general public for daily use.

Source: The Hindu, September 14, 2013