Pune: On the occasion of 204 years of Koregaon-Bhima War, lakhs of people paid tribute by reaching Jaystambh Memorial in Pune district of Maharashtra amidst tight security arrangements till Saturday afternoon. Of. This time, despite rising cases of COVID-19 and related restrictions, a large number of people gathered, whereas earlier on the occasion of the 203th anniversary, a small number of people reached Jayastambh in view of the corona virus infection.
Superintendent of Police (Pune Rural) Abhinav Deshmukh said, “Till this afternoon, there has been a steady increase in the number of people reaching Jaistambh. We think that in view of this, the arrival of visitors will continue till 5 pm. Around 200 PMPML buses are plying for Koregaon-Bhima from different areas of Pune. Lakhs of people have paid tribute since this morning. Tight security arrangements are in place at various places.” In view of the corona virus infection, the district administration had appealed to people above 60 years of age and children below 10 years to avoid reaching Jaistambh.
Maharashtra | People gathered today in huge numbers in Bhima Koregaon, Pune, on the 204th anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle pic.twitter.com/6Y59aTBZq8
– ANI (@ANI) January 1, 2022
Deshmukh said that the number of senior citizens reaching the memorial is comparatively less, however, children below the age of 10 years are seen with their parents. In normal times, lakhs of people, mainly from the Dalit community, visit the Jaystambh on January 1 every year. This pillar was built by the British in the memory of the soldiers who fought against the Peshwas in the battle of 1818.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, State Home Minister Dilip Valase Patil, Social Welfare Minister Dhananjay Munde, Energy Minister Nitin Raut, MP Amol Kolhe and VBA leader Prakash Ambedkar also reached Jayasthambh near Perne village this morning.
read also
Pune District Magistrate Rajesh Deshmukh, Joint Commissioner of Police (Pune), Ravindra Shisve, Abhinav Deshmukh and ZP CEO Ayush Prasad traveled by PMPML (Pune Metropolitan Transport Corporation) bus. He interacted with fellow passengers and took stock of the bus service and other facilities being provided by the administration. A large number of policemen are deployed near the memorial and arrangements have been made for COVID-19 test etc.
According to an order issued by the Pune district administration under Section 144, placing banners etc. in the villages around the monument, posting such material which is likely to spread rumours, may create hatred among communities, etc. is prohibited. This order is effective from midnight on December 30 and will be effective till 6 am on January 2.
It is worth mentioning that during the program organized on the completion of two hundred years of this war, violence broke out near Koregaon-Bhima village. Police said the violence was triggered by “provocative” speeches at the Elgar Parishad event in Pune a day before the event. There has been a significant increase in the cases of corona virus infection in the last 12 days of 2021 in Maharashtra.
On Friday, 8,067 new cases of infection were reported in the state, which is 50 percent more than Thursday. In the new guidelines issued by the state government on Thursday night, the attendance in meetings in open or closed places was limited to 50.