Overview

• From Sunday’s Mahalaya, West Bengal Police will deploy an additional 10,000 to 15,000 personnel across districts, with Kolkata as the focal point.
• Home Guards, NCC cadets and local volunteers will assist with crowd control and logistics, with plans covering post-puja carnivals as well.
• Kolkata Police say they will launch the Pujo Bandhu smartphone app before the pujas to provide pandal locations, gate directions and integrated helpline access.
• Police priorities include public safety, round-the-clock traffic management, fire preparedness and cybersecurity awareness messaging at pandals.
• Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee began inaugurations on Saturday and said she will open around 3,000 pandals over the next few days, after releasing her ‘Bij Angan’ song for Tala Prattoy and raising the per-puja grant to ₹1.10 lakh for roughly 43,000 community pujas.