With people starting shopping for Deepavali, the district police have erected temporary watchtowers at 22 points in the city to monitor the crowd and prevent crime during the festival season.
COVID-19 restrictions kept people indoors for over four months and after the State government relaxed norms, shops and commercial establishments were opened in a phased manner adhering to various guidelines.
Deepavali falls on November 14 and people have started thronging textile showrooms from Sunday to avoid last minute rush and large gatherings. Also, the number of people visiting shops is expected to increase during the Puja holidays this weekend. Hence, to monitor the crowd and regulate traffic, the police have planned to step up surveillance in market areas, bus stand and at places where people gather in large numbers.
Erection of watchtowers is completed at Manikoondu, Panneerselvam Park, Eswaran Kovil Street, R.K.V. Road, Nethaji Road, Kalaimadu Silai, Swastik Corner, near Krishna Theatre and at bus stand. Since most of the textile and gold jewellery showrooms are located on R.K.V. Road, additional watchtowers are installed on the road.
Town DSP Raju said public address systems would be installed in the watchtowers and policemen would be monitoring the crowd using binoculars and footage of closed circuit television cameras. They would maintain vigil over pocket pickers and bag-lifters and also regulate traffic to ensure free flow of vehicles.
Superintendent of Police P. Thangadurai said policemen would be posted at vantage points to ensure hassle-free shopping for people. Also, policemen in plain clothes would move in the crowded areas to prevent crime. He said that 32 watchtowers would be installed at Gobichettipalayam, Sathyamangalam, Bhavani and Perundurai sub-divisions.
