Various parts of city especially the festival zone including Kanakakkunnu palace are witnessing huge rush.
Thiruvananthapuram: Even as the state celebrates Thiruvonam on Wednesday, there are many who will not be able to enjoy the special moment with their families and friends due the nature of their profession. With the police sounding a high alert following intelligence inputs given by the Army, the police will be deployed in full strength on Thiruvonam day.
Various parts of city especially the festival zone including Kanakakkunnu palace are witnessing huge rush.”The control rooms will be up and running full time. We have asked our personnel to report for duty by afternoon” said Aditya, Thiruvananthapuram deputy commissioner of police.
The police would be mobilising more personnel for deployment in shopping areas, during pageantry and festival zoneh which is thronged by thousands of people daily.“Our main responsibility is to ensure safety and safety of people. Then there are other problems which need to be tackled. People try to misbehave with women. There are issues of pickpockets, drunken driving and traffic violations,” he said.
The traffic cops will on their toes to deal with the parking issues and huge traffic in the festival zone. “We will be rotating duties. While one set of cops will on duty during forenoon, the next team will take over in the afternoon,”said a traffic cop. “We adjust duty in such a manner that everyone gets a chance to spend some time with the family during Onam,” said another cop.
The fire and rescue department is another agency which is geared up to meet any situation during festival season. “The duty hours increase during festivals as we have to maintain high vigil in crowded areas. Various hotspots like Kanakakkunnu place grounds, museum, MG road stretch, East Fort, shopping malls,market places. Extra vigil is critical in preventing mishaps,” said R.Prasad, Technical Director, Fire and Rescue Department, Thiruvananthapuram.