Security beefed up in Kashi, CP inspects ghats
VARANASI: Security has been beefed up on the iconic ghats of Varanasi for Dev Deepawali, scheduled for November 19. The ghats will be lit up with 12 lakh earthen lamps on Friday evening.
Commissioner of police, A Satish Ganesh, with a team of senior police officers inspected ghats, including Rajghat and the Domari helipad. Ganesh said that security has been beefed up in the entire city with special focus on the ghats along the banks of the Ganga. Police personnel have been asked to keep a strict vigil on the ghats and will be deployed from Assi Ghat to Raj Ghat.
Police personnel also checked hotels, lodges, guest houses and restaurants along the banks of the Ganga Ghat. The water police and NDRF team will be on the watch too. Monitoring of Ganga Ghats and crowded places will be done with drone cameras. Boats from outside Varanasi will not be allowed to enter the Ganga on the day of Dev Deepawali. In a briefing at the Reserve Police Lines, Ganesh informed police personnel about the duty assigned to them for Dev Deepawali. Additional Commissioner of Police, crime and headquarters, Subhash Chandra Dubey, is the nodal officer for security during Dev Deepawali.
Additional police force and four platoons of the PAC will be deployed at the Ganga Ghats. ACPs with the force will remain present at crowded places in their respective circles.
Dubey said that boatmen have been instructed not to ply boats after consuming any narcotics and not to allow any such passenger on their boats who may be under the influence of a substance.