City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Syed Khalid Mehmood Hamdani here on Tuesday said that foolproof security arrangements were being finalized for Pakistan Super-League (PSL) matches to be played at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium during March 1 to 11.
He said that the authorities concerned had been directed to ensure best possible security arrangements for the cricket matches. The arrangements were being finalized keeping in view the convenience and safety of the players and the cricket fans, he said. A comprehensive traffic plan would also be devised to ease traffic flow during the matches on the city roads. Three control rooms had also been established to monitor the arrangements, he added. The administration and police have always played a pivotal role in promoting international sports and cultural activities in the country by providing foolproof security to these events.
“We are all set to provide complete protection to the visiting national and international players, officials as well as spectators of Pakistan Super League (PSL) T-20 cricket series with an even more elaborate and improved security plan than the previous ones,” he said. The CPO said that all available resources would be utilized besides deploying thousands of police personnel including senior officers and officials of different units of police including SSP, SDPOs, SHOs, Dolphin Squad, Police Response Unit and Elite Force.
Security personnel would perform security, patrolling and traffic management duties during the matches to ensure foolproof security of the event along with smooth flow of traffic, he informed. He added that earnest efforts would be made to least disturb the routine activities of the citizens, traders and businessman during the matches as shortest route would be provided to the teams to ensure their security by containing traffic only during the movements of teams from their residential places to the stadium and vice versa.
Three layers of security would be provided at the stadium and the citizens would only be allowed to enter the stadium after a complete checking process, he added. He said that Dolphin Squad, Elite and Police Response Unit teams would continue their effective patrolling around the specific areas of the city. Snipers would be deputed on the rooftops to keep an eye on all the movement during these matches. Search and sweep operations were being conducted in the city, particularly around the cricket stadium and designated areas, he added.
According to a Police spokesman, 14 matches of PSL would be played in Rawalpindi including five days and nine evenings. He informed that the duration of the matches to be played during the day would be 2 pm to 5 pm while evening matches would start at 7 pm and conclude a 10 pm. Three different routes would be used to reach the stadium, he said adding, separate checking points would be set up for the cricket fans. Special shuttle service would also be provided to PSL fans, he informed.
The district administration would provide the shuttle service for which special arrangements were being finalized, he said. Various places had been designated for parking while motorcycle parking would be near the stadium, he informed. 160 cameras would be installed inside and outside the stadium to monitor all the security arrangements, he said. He informed that 4,500 cops would be deployed to make the security arrangements foolproof. A special survey of the buildings in the surrounding areas of the stadium had also been conducted, he said.
