18,000 police personnel to be on duty in Chennai for Deepavali
Commissioner A Arun has directed them to focus on crowd control, crime prevention and traffic regulation among other duties with personnel drawn from all wings of the city police, Armed Reserve, TN Special Police and Home Guards.
DTNEXT Bureau
City Police
CHENNAI: In view of Deepavali festivities, the Greater Chennai Police have made elaborate security arrangements for the safety of the public, who are expected to congregate in large numbers in commercial hubs like T Nagar, Washermenpet, Kilpauk, Flower Bazaar and Purasawalkam for shopping.
Commissioner A Arun has directed them to focus on crowd control, crime prevention and traffic regulation among other duties with personnel drawn from all wings of the city police, Armed Reserve, TN Special Police and Home Guards.
Special security arrangements have been made in T Nagar, Washermenpet, Purasawalkam and Flower Bazaar – neighbourhoods that are often abuzz with shoppers. A total of 17 temporary Watch Towers have been set up at the commercial hubs – T Nagar (7), Washermenpet and Kilpauk (3 each) and Flower Bazaar (4). Cops with binoculars will be monitoring the crowd on a rotational basis.
A total of five temporary Police Control rooms and 10 help desks have been set up in T Nagar, Washermenpet, Purasawalkam and Flower Bazaar areas, monitoring CCTV cameras that track criminals. Arrangements have been made to hand over missing boys and girls to their respective families. An additional 42 CCTV cameras have been installed in T Nagar and Washermenpet.
Slogans on safety, crime prevention and precautionary measures will be broadcasted through wide LED screens in the shopping hubs. Warnings and instructions will be given to the public.
Through 19 Public Address Systems at the shopping hubs, instructions will be issued frequently to prevent theft of cell phones, money, gold jewellery and belongings, and other crimes, and also traffic jams. Women are urged to wear scarves to prevent chain snatching. Four drone cameras – two each in T Nagar and Flower Bazaar, will be used for monitoring, an official release stated.
To thwart criminal activities, cops are deployed on rotation basis and exclusive WhatsApp group has been created to share information to prevent and detect criminal activities. Four-wheeler and two-wheeler patrolling have been increased. Cops in mufti will be deployed in crowded areas.
Traffic patrol vehicles (Traffic Marshall) regulate traffic in T Nagar, Purasawalkam, Washermenpet and Flower Bazaar. Baggage of the public will be vetted randomly through Mobile X-Ray Baggage Scanner vehicle at commercial establishments, shopping malls, etc.
A medical team with 108 Ambulance, and Fire Engines with required personnel will be in place in case of emergencies. Adequate safety measures have been taken in and around cracker shops as well.
SPECIAL CONTROL ROOM
T Nagar: 7358543058, 843866922
Purasawalkam: 7824867324
NSC Bose Road: 8122360906
