Mumbai: 

Choc-a-block: The organisers are expecting a minimum of 10 lakh devotees everyday at Lalbaugcha Raja. File pic

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks in Gujarat and Bangalore, the Mumbai police are not taking any chances with security during Ganeshustav. For the first time in the history of Lalbaugcha Raja, the Kalachowky police have asked all residents in the area to furnish information about their vehicles.

This is the 75th year of the Lalbaugcha Raja and said Waman Lanjwal, chairman of the Lalbaug Co-operative Housing Society, "This is the first time that the police have asked us to give information about our vehicles."

An officer from the Kalachowky police said, "No vehicles apart from the ones owned by residents will be allowed near the pandal. If seen, either the residents or we will tow the vehicles away from the festival area."

The residents are also planning to keep their bicycles at home to make it easier to spot new bicycles in the area during the festival.

"We have only five to six bicycles in the society. Since it is difficult to distinguish bicycles, we will keep ours at home and will see to it that there are no strange bicycles in this area," said Lanjwal.

The organisers are expecting a minimum of 10 lakh devotees daily. The mandal treasurer, Rajendra Lanjwal said, "We are expecting a total of at least 1 crore devotees. We are going to install CCTVs and rope in 5,000 private security personnel. We are also planning to take help from the home guards and use metal detectors."