Amid tight security, Sawai Gandharva music festival takes off today

There is definitely a shadow of anxiety over the festival due to what happened in Mumbai. Police inspector Chandrakant Jadhav talked to the volunteers of Arya Sangeet Prasarak Mandal (ASPM) on Wednesday. He appealed the volunteers to remain alert throughout the festival.

He said, “We will instal door frame metal detectors at every entrance. Every entrant will be screened and checked thoroughly. The volunteers are also told to keep watch on every activity of suspicious characters and inform about them to the police.”

Jadhav appealed to the audience not to carry water bottles, mobile phones, carry bags, tiffins or other such baggage. “The people should inform about any suspicious things or persons at the venue,” he said.

“We will be taking every step of caution and police department is guiding us in this regard,” said Shreenivas Joshi, executive secretary of ASPM, which organises the festival. “We have deployed private security guards and the people are requested to cooperate with them,” he said.

Joshi appealed to the audience to cooperate with the organisers owing to altogether a different situation this year.

Meanwhile, the construction of pandal has been completed at the New English School, Ramanbaug.

Organisers conducted a sound check on Wednesday, which is a crucial part of the music festival. Around 10,000 people are expected to gather at the venue.

Parking arrangement for two wheelers will be at Naveen Marathi Shala and for four wheelers the parking will be at Ranade Balak Mandir. PMPML has provided buses for the passengers of Katraj, Nigdi, Karve Nagar, Kothrud and Anandnagar areas.

Instructions issued by police to the audience
* Don’t carry mobile phones, handbags, water bottles and ladies’ purses
* Inform the police immediately whenever you see suspicious objects or persons
* Don’t park vehicles on road
* Don’t carry any valuables and don’t leave them in cars
* Cooperate with volunteers and security agencies

On the opening day of the Sawai Gandharva Music Festival, Tukaram Daithankar (Shehnai), Krushnendra Vadikar (vocal), Suhas Vyas (vocal) Pt Shivkumar Sharma (Santoor) and Pt Ajay Chakravorthy (vocal) will perform. The session will start at 4 pm. At Sawai Gandharav Smarak, Pt Satyasheel Deshpande will present a lecture-demonstration programme on Gharandaj Gayaki at 1.30 pm. The Shadja film festival will open with a film Antardhvani on Pt Shivkumar Shrama at 10 am at City Pride, Kothrud. Pt Sharma and director Jabbar Patel will remain present on the occasion.