KOCHI: Even as the Cochin Carnival reaches a feverish pitch, a tense situation continues to prevail at the Veli Ground in Fort Kochi after the police ordered the dismantling of a 40-feet-tall Pappanji, a giant effigy of an old man symbolising the passing year, placed at the venue. But the organisers seem unmoved for now.
It all started when the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mattancherry, issued a notice to the organisers, the Gala de Fort Kochi Club, on December 18, directing the latter to dismantle the ‘Pappanji’ within 24 hours, citing crowd-control measures.
Around 1,000 police personnel have to be deployed at the Parade Ground, the official site of the annual effigy burning on the midnight of December 31, to ensure the safety of thousands of tourists and local residents who gather there to herald the New Year. Hence, the City Police will not be able to deploy its personnel at the Veli Ground, located nearly two kilometres away from the Parade Ground, the notice said.
The burning of the effigy at the Veli Ground would pose “serious security issues” as the same would draw a huge crowd and the police cannot ensure their safety, it said.
A stampede-like situation occurred during the New Year’s Eve festivities in 2022 when over two lakh people converged on the venue. That forced the authorities to put in place strict crowd control measures, even restricting entry to the Parade Ground last year to just 40,000 people. The Fort Kochi RDO also refused permission to burn the effigy at the Veli Ground last year, with the huge structure there dismantled.
“We’ve not given any permission to erect the Pappanji at the Veli Ground this time either,” said Faisal M S, Fort Kochi Station House Officer.
However, the organisers are yet to raze down the structure, till late on Sunday. They said the ‘Pappanji’ is part of a long tradition and hence they be given permission to keep the effigy. An “all-party-meeting” was held by the local residents at the Veli Ground at 7.30pm to take a decision on removing the effigy.
“Originally, the Pappanji was set to be inaugurated today (December 22), but we postponed the same in the wake of the cops dishing out the notice. The structure was raised after a month’s hardwork and it has cost us nearly Rs 3 lakh. We won’t burn the effigy and our request is to let the structure remain there as part of the Cochin Carnival festivities,” said a club member.
However, police sources said there is a risk of miscreants burning the effigy and they will not be able to ensure the security of the crowd that is likely to gather. “We want to avoid any stampede-like situation,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, a ‘Santa rally’ was held on Sunday as part of the Cochin Carnival festivities.