MARGAO
A day after the police granted permission for the Shiv Jayanti procession through the communally sensitive Rumdamol Housing Board, the Goa police is mulling tight security arrangements on the day of the procession on Monday evening.
The police were initially reluctant to grant permission for the Shiv Jayanti procession, starting from the Margao Housing Board and passing through Rumdamol housing Board to Margao market on grounds that processions in the city result in traffic snarls. The authorities had also maintained that they have now stopped issuing permission for processions and events in Margao city from the traffic point of view, before DySP Raju Raut Desai gave the green signal for the organizers to take out the procession after a meeting with the Shiv Jayanti organisers on Friday.
Saturday saw the police working out a security mechanism in place for the Monday procession, wherein plans are afoot to requisition the police force from the entire Margao sub-division, including the police stations of Margao, Maina-Curtorim, Cuncolim and Colva.
District police chief, SP Arvind Gawas told The Goan that security arrangement along the procession route, right from Gogol Housing Board to the communally sensitive Rumdamol housing board, and Margao city will be strict. “The police will once again engage with the organisers as well as the representatives of the Muslim community before the Shiv Jayanti procession on Monday to ensure that the event passes off peacefully and without causing traffic obstructions,” SP Gawas said.
