Not enough cops to manage Durga Puja pandals, says Calcutta HC on its no-entry order

Kolkata Police has 25,000 personnel & 12,000 civic volunteers, but city has 3,000 Durga Puja pandals. Court said it isn’t enough despite ‘exemplary guidelines’.

Kolkata Police personnel make a child wear a mask outside a Durga Puja pandal Tuesday | Photo: ANI

New Delhi: The Calcutta High Court justified its decision to make all Durga Puja pandals in West Bengal ‘no-entry zones’ to prevent the spread of Covid-19, saying Kolkata’s 25,000-strong police force is not adequate to manage more than 3,000 pandals, in addition to carrying out its regular duties like maintaining law and order, conducting investigations and protecting VIPs.

In response to a public interest litigation, the court had said Monday that no visitors should be allowed to go inside pandals, and that only 25 people from the puja organising committee should be let in to the bigger pujas, and 15 organisers in the smaller ones. It also directed authorities to make sure there are adequate barriers at the entrance to every pandal.

The court brushed aside the state government’s claim that police personnel deployed in VVIP security shall be withdrawn and deployed at the puja pandals. “…It is inconceivable that VIP security will be completely absent during the time,” the bench of Justices Arijit Banerjee and Sanjib Banerjee noted in its order.

The bench added if the Kolkata Police does not have enough personnel to manage the pandals, then the state police can scarcely be “expected to control the crowds” at the 31,000 other pujas across the state.

A forum of 300 puja committees moved the HC Tuesday, seeking modification of the day-old order. This application is expected to be heard Wednesday, the day the Durga Puja festivities would’ve begun.

‘Exemplary measures’ not enough

The West Bengal government had opposed the imposition of restrictions on the number of visitors to pandals, and furnished a handbook issued by the Kolkata Police detailing the arrangements made for Durga Puja and Laxmi Puja, and measures taken in view of the pandemic.

The court described the measures as “exemplary”, but wasn’t pleased enough to allow the crowds to visit the pandals.

“Notwithstanding the exemplary guidelines issued both by the state and by Kolkata Police, it does not appear that there is any blue-print which has been prepared for the implementation of the relevant measures,” the court remarked.

“The virus refuses to go away. Though the healthcare facilities in the state have been augmented, with the limited resources available, the state can only do so much. In such a situation, it may be judicious to err on the side of prevention than to allow the festivities to go on without any checks,” said the bench, noting the state government had distributed Rs 170 crore to 34,000 puja organisers across West Bengal, including 3,000 in Kolkata alone.

The HC discussed at length the scenario in Kolkata to reflect on the “the enormity of the problem” of policing in West Bengal. According to the state’s submission, Kolkata Police has about 25,000 personnel on its rolls, and civic volunteers in the city add up to another 12,000.

According to the court’s analysis, on any given day, about 75-80 per cent of staff is available, which means a total of 30,000-32,000 including civic volunteers can be on duty during the Durga Puja festivities.

The court calculated that on the basis of the Kolkata Police manual, over 200 personnel would have to be deployed in some of the major puja pandals, while at others, the numbers would need to be between 20 and 100. It decided there just weren’t enough personnel to deploy at 3,000 puja pandals.

The state’s assurance that it would withdraw personal security officers allotted for VVIP security for puja duty failed to impress the bench, which said it was “inconceivable” that there will be no VIP security during the festival period. Likewise, the bench added, the police in other districts cannot be expected to control crowds.

“When students across disciplines, whether in schools or colleges or engaged in higher studies, have been prevented from attending educational institutions for more than six months and several students stand to lose a year, it is rather incongruous that puja festivities would continue as in the previous years,” the bench said.