Single window system for NOC, site visits must

› The estates department got 30 applications for Ramleela and Dussehra functions from the police commissioner of which 27 were approved. Fire safety arrangements were checked at each site. KOMAL MITTAL, MC commissioner

AMRITSAR: Under fire for negligence last year, the civil administration introduced a single window system to issue the no-objection certificate (NOC) to organisers of the religious function this time.

DCP (law and order) Jagmohan Singh says there were seven sites across the district where the Dussehra function was organised near railway tracks last year. Jaura Phatak was one of them. But this time, the administration did not allow a gathering at any of these places.

According to state home department directions, all Dussehra committees need an NOC under the single window system of the district administration. The organisers needed to apply for permission seven days before the event.

The organisers submitted the application at the office of the deputy commissioner of police, law and order. The office of the police commissioner consulted the municipal corporation, Amritsar Development Authority, railways, canal department, district education officers, fire department and Punjab State Power Corporation Limited before issuing the NOC.

Besides safety arrangements, the site should have multiple exit doors, parking facility and should be an open area. Police personnel took stock of the sites.

“The estates department got 30 applications for Ramleela and Dussehra functions from the police commissioner of which 27 were approved. Fire safety arrangements were checked at each site,” says MC commissioner Komal Mittal.

LUDHIANA LEARNS LESSON IN TIME

LUDHIANA: After last year’s Dussehra tragedy in Amritsar, the railway authorities and district administration seem to have learnt a lesson. This year, the Azad Dussehra Committee was not given permission to organise the festive fair in Dashmesh Nagar ground along rail tracks.

Government Railway Police DSP Pardeep Sandhu said, “We are coordinating with the police and keeping a check on sites along tracks to ensure no event is held without permission.”

A committee member said that for four decades, the Dussehra mela was being held near the Dhuri track but after last year’s tragedy, permission was withheld. The railway officials got encroachments along tracks removed.