Policemen on duty get raincoats

Ahmedabad: With good chances of rain on July 6, the Rath Yatra day, the city police have started planning to ensure that the personnel on duty do not fall ill. In a meeting on Sunday, the issue of food and protection was discussed.
A senior city police official told TOI that the officials are giving final touches to the security scheme for the event and keeping personnel safe is on priority.
"All the personnel have already been issued raincoats. We will consult the weather department to ascertain the chances of rain and orders of whether to keep raincoats handy will be issued on the final briefing on Monday. Medicines will also be kept handy in several units for common ailments," said the official.
"There are over 15,000 policemen in the Rath Yatra bandobast. In addition, there are State Reserve Police (SRP) companies, companies of paramilitary forces, trainees, Civil Defence and Home Guards. While SRP and paramilitary forces cook their own food, we are primarily concerned about the personnel who will be posted on terrace points or at critical junctions and who will find little time to move," the official added.
Thus, police are in the process of ordering 15,000 food packets which will be distributed among the personnel in the case of drizzle. Apart from the food packets, water bottles will also be distributed. Traditionally, the policemen that accompany the procession have their lunch at Saraspur. Till three years back, the personnel were provided food from a few local suppliers, but now the process has been standardized with better food quality.