Hyderabad: For the first time in the country, Ganesh idols in the city will have the ‘geo tag’ to ensure safety of the festival, which starts from August 25.
M. Mahender Reddy, Hyderabad police commissioner, told DC that the application to set up Ganesh pandals has provisions for exclusive QR codes.
“Organisers should display the QR code allocated to them at pandals and during immersion. We have developed an exclusive app to track idols,” he said. The geo tag will help the police in tracking the movement of idols during immersion.
“So far, we were banking on the communication system and CCTVs to track the processions. Now, the scanning of the QR code by the ground-level staff will help us monitor the status. We are also tagging key junctions with QR codes. In case of a delay in the movement of the procession in sensitive areas, special teams, which are posted at zonal level, will be rushed to clear the blockage,” a senior official said.
It has become an arduous task for the police to maintain law and order during the Ganesh festival in sensitive localities in the Old City and West Zone. Since 2015, the city police have beefed up security by deploying more forces and installing CCTVs.
A. Venkateswar Rao, west zone DCP, said that the police can get information about the organisers by scanning the QR code with their smartphone which have the Ganesh Navaratri app. “The duty officers have been asked to scan the QR code whenever they visit a Ganesh pandal,” he said. According to the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav committee, more than 35,000 idols will be installed in Tri-Commissionerates by 24,000 pandals in Hyderabad.
