Ranchi district administration gears up for safe and peaceful Holi, Shab-e-Barat

Ranchi, Mar 17 (PTI) The Ranchi district administration on Thursday said it has made elaborate security and safety arrangements for Holi and Shab-e-Barat which are falling on the same day.

Adequate security forces are being deployed at strategic locations and drone cameras will also be used in sensitive points of the capital city, officials said.

The department of personnel, administrative reforms, and rajbhasa on Thursday declared holidays for the festival of colours on March 18 and March 19.

Ranchi deputy commissioner (DC) Chhavi Ranjan told PTI, “We are keeping a close watch on miscreants. Sufficient magistrates and forces have been deployed to ensure peace while celebrating the occasions. Peace committee meetings were also held at police stations to iron out local issues.” Ranjan said since the administration gets full cooperation from the people of Ranchi during festivals, so it is expected that both the faiths will celebrate their festivals in harmony.

A senior police officer said around 140 locations have been identified in rural and urban Ranchi where static magistrates and police forces will be deployed.

The cyber cell will be active to keep a watch on social media posts, and citizens have been asked to refrain from posting sensitive posts on social media, the police officer said.

The administration has also asked people to follow the SMS rule —soap or sanitizer (hand wash), mask, and social distancing— while celebrating the festivals in a bid to check the spread of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the district administration has also been conducting an intensive drive since March 12 to check food adulteration during the festival season.

Till now, altogether 217 food samples have been collected from sweet shops, hotels, restaurants, street food vendors, wholesalers, and retailers for on-the-spot quality testing.

Ranchi food safety officer Subir Ranjan said, “Of the total 217 samples, 26 were found to be adulterated. Most of the adulterated samples were collected from street food vendors and small shops. We are determining the penalty for violating the rules.” He said that adulteration was mainly found in 'paneer' (soft white cheese), 'khoya' (dried milk), 'laddu', 'jalebi' (types of sweets), and turmeric powder.

Industrial colours were used in most of the items, which is not good for health, the officer said. PTI SAN NAM MM MM