the goan I network
PANAJI
The Coronavirus pandemic playing out across the nation and the world is set to hit Holi celebrations in the State and the first casualty is Ponda where the civic body of the town touted as Goa’s cultural capital deciding against holding celebrations to mark the Spring festival.
However, the State’ government’s tourism ministry has taken no such decision to cancel any of its programmes to mark Holi which it celebrates as a ‘State Festival’ and publicizes it internationally as a tourist attraction.
Ponda Municipal Council Chairperson, Venkatesh Naik said, the civic body decided not to celebrate Holi today (Tuesday) because of the Coronavirus scare and the advisories from government authorities to avoid large gatherings. The civic body’s councilors will skip the rally traditionally held in town as a preventive measure against the spread of the virus. There will however be no bar on people holding all other traditional and religious practices related to the festival, Naik added.
Tourism Director, Menino D’Souza, meanwhile said, they will go ahead with its Shigmo parade plans. The parade of traditional shigmo floats, Romtamell and other traditional display of mythological scenes, will kick off on Tuesday evening at Ponda.
The public, however, has been advised by the government to skip participating in the Holi festivities this year if they bear symptoms such as cold and fever.There has been no case of Coronavirus detected in the State and all 12 persons who were quarantined as suspect cases have tested negative, the health ministry said.
