More than 21,000 police personnel will be deployed in Mumbai to maintain law and order during idol immersions on Anant Chaturdashi, the tenth and final day of the Ganesh festival, officials said on Friday.
For the first time, police will use artificial intelligence (AI) for route management and other traffic-related updates, an official said.
An AI-based control room has been set up at Girgaon Chowpatty, while QR codes have been issued to prominent Ganpati mandals along with stickers for vehicles that will take part in immersion processions, he said.
It will help police locate vehicles, monitor crowding etc so that these can be managed in real time to carry out traffic diversions, he added.
Drones that will be used to monitor crowds and processions will have attached public address systems as well as lights for safety purposes, the official said.
These drones will monitor crowds along with 10,000 CCTVs across the city, he said. Flying private drones has been prohibited, the official added.
As many as 12 additional commissioners of police, 40 deputy commissioners, 61 assistant commissioners, 3,000 officers and 18,000 police personnel will be part of the deployment, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Satyanarayan Choudhary said at a press conference.
Apart from this, 14 companies of the State Reserve Police Force, four of the Central Armed Police Forces, quick response teams, and Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS) will also be stationed, Choudhary informed.
At least 6,500 community Ganesh idols and 1.75 lakh household idols will be immersed at various beaches, other water bodies, and 205 artificial lakes in the city, he added.
The police have prepared the security detail with the help of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, he said, adding that life guards will also be stationed at immersion sites.
"More than 3000 traffic police personnel and 285 Maharashtra Security Force personnel will be deployed on roads linked to Ganesh idol immersion. For smooth traffic flow, there will be diversion on some roads, while some will remain blocked," Anil Kumbhare, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) said at the briefing.
To avoid inconvenience to Ganesh processions in the city, all heavy vehicles have been prohibited to enter the city from 7 am on Saturday till midnight of Sunday.
"Ganesh mandals have been told not to stop on old railway bridges during the immersion processions. There is a limit of 100 persons on a bridge at a time," he said.
These include ones in Ghatkopar,Curry Road, Arthur Road and Byculla as well as Marine Lines, Sandhurst Road, Mahalaxmi, Prabhadevi-Carol, Dadar-Tilak ROBs, French ROB between Grant Road and Charni Raod and Falkland bridge between Grant Road and Mumbai Central, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
