Sabarimala: Union Minister travels to Pamba, gets into war of words with police
Nilackal(Kerala), Nov 21: Union Minister Pon Radhakrishnan, who was on his way to the Sabarimala Temple, Wednesday engaged in a brief war of words with the police here over restrictions on private vehicles heading to Pamba, the last entry point to the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
Though IPS officer Yatish Chandra said the minister could travel in his official vehicle, Radhakrishnan preferred to proceed to Pamba from here in a state-run KSRTC bus as a mark of protest against the restrictions imposed by state authorities causing difficulties to pilgrims.
Radhakrishnan, the Minister of State for Shipping and Finance, arrived at the base camp here, located about 20 km from Sabarimala, a day after the visit of opposition Congress-led UDF MLAs and BJP MPs to take stock of facilities offered to devotees.
After reviewing facilities, the minister asked the Chandra, why only KSRTC vehicles were being allowed till Pamba and asked them to allow private vehicles also.
"You (police) are unnecessarily harassing devotees. Why only KSRTC vehicles are being allowed till Pamba? This is not good for Sabarimala pilgrims. Private vehicles should also be allowed," the minister said.
Chandra, however, said that parking lots in Pamba had been washed away in the August floods. He said, the KSRTC buses would not park at Pamba and would be returning with pilgrims.
But if private vehicles were allowed, they would create traffic blocks causing difficulties to pilgrims.
The senior police official explained to the union minister about the features of Pamba, an environmental fragile area.He also said if the union minister gives him in writing to allow private vehicles to Pamba, he was prepared to allow all vehicles.
Accompanied by the BJP state leaders and activists, the minister later interacted with the devotees especially those who arrived from neighbouring states.
Carrying the customary 'irumudikettu' (the sacred offerings to Lord Ayyappa), Radhakrishnan later headed to Pamba in the state-run bus along with other leaders and activists.
"The government should correct itself, otherwise the people will correct them", he told reporters in Pamba.
The minister is expected to reach the Sannidhanam later in the day.
Senior leaders and activists of the Opposition Congress-led UDF, who staged protests at Pamba and Nilackal Tuesday, had been booked for defying prohibitory orders on Tuesday.
BJP MPs, V Muraleedharan and Nalin Kumar Kateel, along with a group of other party leaders, also visited the base camp here and Pamba and reviewed infrastructure facilities.
They had also interacted with devotees and enquired about the facilities offered at the shrine complex.
The Lord Ayyappa Temple was opened on November 16 evening for the over two-month-long pilgrim seasons amidst tension.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
