Delhi has increased safety measures at Ramleela grounds, Durga Puja pandals and major temples after a crowd-related incident in Kolkata, with fire tenders, ambulances, CCTV monitoring, additional security personnel and stricter entry-exit arrangements being deployed across the capital.
The expanded arrangements cover prominent venues from the Red Fort Ramleela grounds to Durga Puja locations in south and west Delhi, as well as Jhandewalan Temple. Organisers and authorities are focusing on crowd movement, emergency response and the separation of entry and exit routes during the ongoing festive gatherings.
At the Red Fort, including the Lav Kush Ramleela venue, fire tenders have been stationed for Dussehra. Organiser Arjun Kumar said the site had earlier relied on water from a local borewell for firefighting, but a fire vehicle had now been brought in as an additional precaution. The number of ambulances has also been increased from one to two.
The venue will use a designated entry route for crowd management on Dussehra. Security checks, police deployment and preparations for handling emergencies are also being carried out at Ramleela grounds. Similar arrangements have been reported at the Shri Dharmik Ramleela in Safdarjung Enclave, where two ambulances, doctors, around 50 firefighters, 60 volunteers and nearly 100 security personnel have been deployed.
In west Delhi, Durga Puja pandals in Dwarka, Janakpuri, Vikaspuri, Mahavir Enclave and Tilak Nagar have separate entry and exit routes, firefighting equipment and CCTV surveillance. Organisers have increased the number of volunteers, while some venues have created separate queues for women and men. At a Durga Puja committee event at Cooperative Ground, treasurer Subhadeep Dev said more than 100 volunteers had been deployed and given wireless sets. The venue has three entry gates, with security personnel posted at the access points.
Crowd management has also been strengthened in south Delhi areas such as CR Park and Greater Kailash, where large Durga Puja gatherings draw significant footfall. Additional personnel have been assigned to regulate movement, respond if crowd density rises and manage emergencies. Security arrangements have also been increased around the CBD Ground and at five major Ramleela events in east Delhi. Police, paramilitary personnel and firefighting equipment have been arranged at the Shri Vasant Ramleela in Kishangarh.
Jhandewalan Temple, which is receiving more than one lakh devotees a day during Navratri, is using slot-based visitor management through an app. The temple management said bookings are stopped once a slot reaches 2,000 people. It recorded 85,100 visitors by 5 pm on Ashtami and 1,10,880 visitors on Saturday. Three gates have been designated for entry and one for exit, with volunteers, employees and security personnel assigned separate responsibilities.
The measures reflect the operational challenge of managing high-footfall public gatherings in temporary or enclosed venues, where emergency access, fire response and controlled movement have to work together. Authorities and organisers are continuing security checks and crowd-control preparations ahead of Dussehra and the remaining festive events.
