Taking a cue from world’s famous carnivals, where giant models are used to represent notable personalities, the Mumbai traffic police will be using giant models to represent “suspicious objects” in its bid to spread awareness on Anant Chaturdashi, the last day of Ganesh Chaturthi, when lakhs of people throng the streets of Mumbai.
As millions of people are bound to get over enthused, and at a time when noise pollution will be at an all time high in the city, the police fear that little or no attention would be paid towards unattended and suspicious objects, which is a serious security threat.
Hence, the traffic police will install 15 to 18 feet-high models at five of the main immersion points in the city — Girgaum, Shivaji Park, Juhu, Marve and Powai. These giants will represent suspicious objects like a tiffin box or a bear doll, which could be used to conceal a bomb.
Joint commissioner of police, traffic, Vivek Phansalkar said, “Many major roads will be used as procession routes for big idols and so will be kept closed for vehicular movement.”
“We plan to move these giant models in the opposite direction of the visarjan routes,” he added. The models will be fitted with speakers, where traffic personnel will be asking people to keep an eye open for suspicious objects and report them to police immediately.
Another new initiative of the Mumbai Traffic Police for Ganpati visarjan procession on Wednesday will be making use of Global Positioning System (GPS) to monitor and regulate traffic movement.
“Over a 1,000 vehicles fitted with GPS system will be helping our traffic control rooms with frequent feeds throughout the day on vehicular movement across the city. We will make use of FM channels to give out information on traffic snarls and diversions.” Brijraj Vaghani, the co-founder of Traffline said, “We will be closely working with the traffic police and providing them with regular updates.”