MARGAO
While the Fama will begin with the sacred ceremony in the wee hours of Monday morning when the statue of the miraculous Menino Jesus is brought down on the altar at the 5.30 am mass, the authorities are yet to work out the traffic arrangements on the day as the religious event draws lakhs of devotees to Colva every year.
This year, there’s a possibility that the BRICS Summit may entail authrities to do away with the festivities outside the Church. There is no clarity on whether the authorities will permit stalls along the roadside on the day of the Fama since the VVIPs will be departing to the airport on October 17 after curtains
come down on the summit on Sunday.
Given that the church road heading to the beach is also designated as a contingency road by the law enforcement agencies, Colva Police station in-charge PI Braz Menezes said the police have still granted permission for erection of stalls along the roadside.
Colva Sarpanch Menino Fernandes pointed out that the panchayat has so far received no intimation from the police whether to grant permission to the stalls alongside the road or not. “We are awaiting the green signal from the authorities on erection of stalls. The panchayat is waiting for a communication from the authorities,” Menino said.
Colva Parish Priest Fr Joseph Da Silva told The Goan that preparations are in full swing for the traditional Fama scheduled on Monday. “As usual, the Mass will be held at 5.30 am. Masses will also be held at 8, 9, 10, 11 in the morning and 12 noon, besides masses at 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the evening. The Church has put in all the arrangements for the traditional Fama,” Fr Silva said.
Police officials in the know said though they will be overstretched for the BRICS summit, bare minimum security arrangements will be made for the traditional Fama. “Police have asked the church to rope in more volunteers as the police force will be tied down with BRICS,” PI Braz said.
Though the BRICS summit is scheduled to end on Sunday evening, the police will continue to be posted along the roads since the departure of the VVIPs is expected to start early Monday morning and end around noon.
