DCP: No water balloons during Rang Panchami

Nashik: The city police conducted a meeting of mandals that are organizing the Rang Panchami event in their respective areas on Sunday and informed them about the rules they should follow to ensure that there are no untoward incidents.The Rang Panchami festival is celebrated enthusiastically all over the city. However, some pockets in the old city area celebrate it in an even bigger scale, organized by mandals.DCP (Zone 1) Kiran Kumar Chavan called a meeting of the concerned mandals and instructed that strict action would be taken if anyone throws water balloons on people.The mandals were also instructed to ensure that the venue of the celebrations has good CCTV cover. Chavan said CCTV cameras will not only deter miscreants from indulging in illegal activities but will also come in as handy evidence. He added that the mandals should ensure there are no big sound systems or DJs used during the celebrations. The old city areas have Rahaads — small ponds that are kept covered throughout the year — from the time of the Peshwas. These Rahaads, which have a dimension of 10ft x 10ft and are about 4ft deep, are located in Shani Chowk, near Sant Gadge Maharaj Bridge, Tiwandha Chowk, Tambat Galli and Shivaji Chowk.Normally, these ponds are covered and traffic moves over them but they are opened up during Rang Panchami celebrations so that people can take a dip.