Patna: After nine days of festivities, Durga Puja celebrations in the Bihar capital concluded on Thursday with the immersion of Goddess Durga idols in specially prepared artificial ponds along the banks of the Ganga. The Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) supervised the immersions, deploying cleaning teams and monitoring the process under strict administrative watch.
Magistrates and police officers were stationed at key ghats, while overall coordination was carried out through city control rooms. Patna Smart City Limited played a central role in monitoring, with more than 3,300 CCTV cameras installed across 415 locations. These included 2,602 surveillance cameras, 473 red light violation detection devices, 150 automatic number plate recognition systems, 12 speed detection cameras and 120 vehicle classification units.
Public address systems at 69 sites were used to broadcast announcements on hygiene, crowd control and safety measures. Devotees were reminded of guidelines at festival venues and across major intersections.
In a further step to boost public safety, 51 emergency call boxes were installed across Patna, enabling residents to connect directly to the Integrated Command and Control Centre at the press of a button.
Officials said the combined use of technology and ground-level monitoring ensured a smooth and orderly immersion process, minimising crowding at ghats and reducing pollution risks in the Ganga.
