Mumbai, (The Hindu): With the 10-day Ganeshotsav draws to an end in a crescendo of festivity, sound and light on Tuesday, the city police are taking no chances of law and order situations arising. Over 40,000 personnel will be deployed to monitor and streamline the Ganapati Visarjan processions that will stream across the city to immersion points at the sea faces all day, and well into the night.

The last day of the festival is expected to see crowds in huge numbers coming out onto the streets. The bandobast will be jointly carried out by the city and traffic police departments, aided by 12 companies of the State Reserve Police Force, one company of the Rapid Action Force and several Quick Response Teams. “The Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad will also be pressed into service,” DCP Rashmi Karandikar, spokesperson, Mumbai Police, said.

The security cover will include 3,600 traffic police personnel, supplemented by 500 wardens and 8,000 National Cadet Corps personnel. The Road Safety Patrol and NGOs have also volunteered to help with crowd control and traffic regulation. The city’s 119 immersion points and the routes leading to them will be covered by 5,000 CCTV cameras and monitored round-the-clock. Drone cameras will be used as required, Ms. Karandikar said.

She added, “We have a special squad to keep an eye out for antisocial elements taking advantage of the crowds to target women or children, and action against such offenders will be taken promptly and strictly. Anyone who sees any untoward incidents of any kind can call our helpline, report on Twitter or through dedicated SMS numbers. The numbers for sending SMS alerts are 7738133133 and 7738144144.”

To further enhance security at the immersion points, police have erected watchtowers, while Port Zone Police patrol boats will monitor the sea. The Coast Guard and the Indian Navy will also be deploying resources. The police will be sharing real-time updates on the traffic situation on its Twitter page @MumbaiPolice, and traffic snarls can be reported here.