Due to thronging crowd at Marina beach on Kaanum Pongal, as many as 17 children got separated from their families. Police teams on the ground ensured that the separated children got reunited with their families.
The Greater Chennai Police rescued and safely handed over 17 children who were lost amidst the huge crowds during the Kaanum Pongal celebration on the Marina beach on Tuesday.
City Police had set up two temporary control rooms near Marina beach on Tuesday- one near Labour statue and one near Anna Square police station — to co-ordinate with the personnel on ground. Apart from this, temporary watchtowers were also erected on the beach
The police had made security arrangements for crowd management. A senior police official said 14 children who lost their way amidst the under the limits of the Anna Square police station and three children under the Marina police station limits were traced and handed over to their parents.
The police had made elaborate security arrangements such as installing 15 temporary watchtowers, closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, setting up 11 help desks and deploying all-terrain vehicles. A team was kept in standby to stop people from entering the water and to rescue any persons from drowning.
All-terrain vehicles of City Police too were on rounds on the beach to ensure that there were no untoward incidents. “There was less crowd at the beach during the day in comparison with previous Kaanum Pongal days and we also used drones to monitor the crowd which helped in quickly finding the lost children,” a police officer said.
Police also used PA (public address) systems to warn the public to be careful about robbers who use the crowd to rob valuables.
