Palkhi to draw bigger crowd than last year, says trustee

With monsoon arriving in time and sowing being almost over by the farmers, palkhi procession this year is expected to draw more crowd than last year. Hence, the Pune rural police have geared up to chalk out security arrangements for the wari.

Superintendent of police (rural) Manojkumar Lohia has claimed that though there is no specific inputs about possible terror attacks but they have taken enough precautions to avert such incidents. Lohia said, “We have decided to deploy policemen in plain clothes.”

Sudhir Pimple, trustee at Alandi devasthan told dna, “We have noticed that if there is adequate rainfall then a large number of people participate in the procession. The farmers finish their sowing and other agricultural works and come to Alandi.”

The palkhi of Sant Dnyaneshwar Maharaj will leave Alandi on June 30 and it will arrive in Pune on July 1. The palkhi of Sant Tukaram Maharaj is to leave Dehu on June 29.

The Pune rural police have decided to start a special police control room at Dehu and Alandi which will monitor the processions through CCTV cameras.