Ganapati immersion procession through old city areas in 2022
Pune: Members of 150 Ganesh mandals, from areas including Shivajinagar, Bibvewadi, Kothrud, Gokhalenagar, Model Colony and more, met Pune commissioner of police (CP) Amitesh Kumar on Monday afternoon, after the police sent them letters denying permission to participate in the main Ganapati immersion procession through the old parts of the city. Pune police had on Saturday served notices to the 150 mandals regarding their visarjan participation. Last year, a total of 604 Ganesh mandals were allowed to participate in the main immersion procession — 237 through Tilak Road, 266 through Laxmi Road, 79 through Kelkar Road and 22 through Kumthekar Road. The procession took 32 hours and 26 minutes to conclude.
Mandals that have been participating in the main procession for the past two or more years will be allowed to take part through Kelkar Road and Kumthekar Road this year as a special case, police officers told mandal members. They said that taking such a decision in the middle of Ganeshotsav could lead to resentment among mandals. Atul Vaidya, member of Akhil Model Colony Sangharsha Mitra Mandal off FC Road, told TOI, “Police had granted permission to us last year and we requested them to allow permission this year also. During the meeting, a mandal member from Shivajinagar said, “We were given permission by police last year but it was suddenly denied this year.
Office-bearers of the affected mandals then met Kumar, joint commissioner of police Sanjay Darade, and additional commissioners of police Manoj Patil and Sanjay Bansode. Applications have been invited from the remaining mandals, and permission will be granted to them to participate through these two routes accordingly. Mandals celebrating their jubilee year this year will also be allowed to participate in the main procession. Meanwhile, the affected mandals’ members opposed the police decision. The members demanded that permission should not be denied to any mandal. This year, Pune police have decided not to allow new mandals to participate on the main routes in an effort to reduce the duration of the procession. Why so? Ganeshotsav is a people’s festival. Instead of denying us permission, police should suggest different routes at least.”
They demanded that all the mandals be allowed to participate on the main procession routes this year as well, as was done last year.