City cops initiate security planning for winter assembly session

Nagpur: The city police on Monday formally began preparations to outline the security blueprint for the forthcoming winter assembly session, with commissioner of police Ravinder Singal chairing the preview meeting. The cops, even though exhausted after a gruelling Maharashtra state assembly elections, have started their assembly preparations in real earnest.The winter assembly is set to commence in the second week of December with the new govt being sworn in. The approximately two-week affair will require elaborate security arrangements for VVIPs and VIPs camping in the city. The assembly is also set to witness agitations against the new govt over various issues like soyabean and cotton prices, price rise, and so on, with the decimated Maha Vikas Aghadi trying to reinforce its relevance after the poll debacle.Around 3,000 police personnel and seven companies of the State Reserve Police Force (SRPF) were summoned for the winter assembly election last year, when CM Eknath Shinde-led govt and the opposition stayed for two weeks. Apart from the outside forces, around 5,000 city cops were also deployed. Additionally, home guards were deployed.Sources said that deputy commissioner of police, Special Branch, Shweta Khedkar gave a PowerPoint presentation to the senior officials assembled for the first assembly preparation meeting under Singal. She informed them of the security plan from last year, including the numbers of the deployment, their strategic positions, morcha stopping points, routes, and other political activities, including dharnas, rasta roko or blockades. She also briefed them on how the cops faced challenges in tackling some of the aggressive agitations, like those of Rohit Pawar.Singal invited suggestions from the officials with experience from last year's assembly session. He also reminded the brass that fresh situations and circumstances would require further improvisation. He was accompanied by Jt CP Nisar Tamboli. The assembly will be a challenge for Tamboli, who will be managing it for the first time at the helm with Singal.DCP, Traffic, Archit Chandak, who was part of the meeting, is believed to have suggested wrapping up the morchas and dharnas by 6pm so that they do not affect rush hour traffic and commuters are not held up. He also emphasised diversion routes where four to five junctions can be allotted to an officer of inspector rank for seamless coordination with the cops deployed at the fixed points, and to ensure two-way flows for quick decongestion. He was keen to implement measures to decongest diversion routes, as key junctions like Morris College and LIC Square will see political agitations. Chandak also said that parking and diversion decisions would need to be implemented to ensure the carriageways are relatively free for vehicular movements.