When 80 minds ticked for over 2 hours

29 August,2010 09:06 AM IST |   |  Vinod Kumar Menon

What exactly did senior police officers, bureaucrats, BMC officials and state ministers discuss at a high-level, two-hour meeting held in the city on Saturday morning?


What exactly did senior police officers, bureaucrats, BMC officials and state ministers discuss at a high-level, two-hour meeting held in the city on Saturday morning?

A high level meeting chaired by Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan, senior ministers, bureaucrats, police and BMC officials, along with members of various Ganesh mandals was held at Sahyadri Guest House on Saturday morning.

Maharashtra CM Ashok Chavan is accompanied by BMC Commissioner Swadheen Kshatriya and State Environment Minister Suresh Shetty outside Sahyadri. PICS/ Bipin Kokate

On the agenda was the law and order situation in the wake of a series of upcoming festivals including Ramzan Eid, Ganesh Chaturthi, the Bandra fair and the arrival of the Common Wealth Games baton in Mumbai. The fact that intelligence agencies have tipped off the police about a likely attempt by anti-national groups to disrupt peace during the festive period, was an added concern.
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The meeting, which started at 9.30 am, went on for over two hours and was attended by over 80 people, including home ministers RR Patil and Ramesh Bhagwe, and guardian ministers Jayant Patil and Naseem Khan.

In lieu of the Common Wealth Games slated to be held in the capital, the Delhi police will be unable to make arrangements for additional manpower for Maharashtra. The CM has therefore decided to seek assistance from Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for additional police personnel. He is also likely to approach the Union governmentu00a0 for help.

Naresh Dahibawkar, President of Brihanmumbai Ganeshotsav Sammanvay Samiti told Sunday MiD DAY that he presented a charter of demands before the Chief Minister, most of which were approved.

Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, have been amended (on January 14, 2010) as part of government efforts to make the city less noisy, in keeping with Supreme Court directives. According to the amendment, new sources of noise, including musical instruments, the use of construction machinery and
firecrackers between 10 pm and 6 am have been brought under the ambit of noise regulations.

However, keeping public sentiments on religious days in mind, the state governments have been asked to specify in advance the number of days, not exceeding 15 in a year, on which a two-hour exemption (10 pm to 12 midnight) will be granted.

According to Dahibawkar, during Ganeshotsav, the government usually grants three days (the fifth, seventh and Anant Chaturdashi) of noise regulation rule relaxation. But since this year happens to be the State's
golden jubilee year, they have requested the government to grant a day's extension, which the CM has agreed to consider.

Late ATS chief Hemant Karkare had mooted the idea of circulating a booklet that spoke of how to prevent a bomb blast or terror strike at Ganesh pandals. After his demise in the 26/11 terror attacks, Additional Commissioner (West Region) Amitabh Gupta helped release the booklet. They have asked permission to circulate the booklet to 10,400 Ganesh pandals in Mumbai.

Dahibawkar said, "The CM instructed police commissioner Sanjeev Dayal to implement their suggestion on starting a single window system for obtaining various licenses required for setting up ganpati pandals.

Their suggestion of deploying 10 volunteers in groups of five each, during late nights and early mornings, to assist the police in bandobasts and crowd management at the pandals, was appreciated by senior police officials.u00a0

Over 1 lakh volunteers will be available throughout the year to assist the state machinery in handling any crises. The chief minister has asked the police commissioner to check their feasibility.

The state government has been requested to instruct the excise department to notify all beer bars and wine shops to remain shut in the city/state on all three days of immersion.

The government has been requested to declare September 22 as a public holiday under the Negotiable Instrument Act to avoid public inconvenience and traffic disturbance on the last day of immersion.u00a0

Potholes are a major concern for most Ganesh pandals in the city. Mandal representatives informed the CM that the figure of total potholes available with the BMC took only potholes on main roads into account. "Chavan expressed his disappointment to BMC Commissioner Swadheen Khastriya and Mayor Shradha Jadhav, who were
present at the meeting," Dahibawkar said. The CM hopes all potholes in the city will be cleared in the next 10 days.

Although 82 points in the city have been demarcated for immersion, Shivaji Park at Dadar tends to get choked. A request was made to consider Bandra Reclamation as an immersion spot. The BMC commissioner was asked to study the viability of this spot for next year's festival.

Mumbai police chief's appeal
Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjeev Dayal has appealed to the citizens of Mumbai to maintain peace and harmony while celebrating the upcoming festivals. "We have taken all the necessary precautions and requested the central government for additional manpower. Citizens need to be alert and inform the police about suspicious persons in their neighbourhood, abandoned bags lying at crowded or religious places, in buses or suburban trains," he said.
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