Sarasbaug closed for two days due to security reasons

Pune: Sarasbaug will remain closed on Thursday and Friday due to security reasons in compliance with the prohibitory orders by the Pune police commissioner.“The garden is located in the central parts of the city. The garden is witnessing an increased footfall due to the holidays. The police commissioner has issued prohibitory orders, and the garden is closed for security reasons,” stated a press release issued by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Wednesday.Amitesh Kumar, the Pune police commissioner, on Tuesday said the prohibitory orders issued on May 23, restricting large gatherings by political parties, social groups and others till June 8, were a routine exercise to maintain law and order before any festival or event.“We tried to get permission from PMC for a programme to mark the birth anniversary of Swatantraveer Savarkar on Thursday. The civic administration has not granted it, stating that there was no policy regarding it. So we demanded from PMC that the same rule should be applied to everybody. No other groups or communities should be allowed to conduct any programme in the garden premises. Against this backdrop, the decision to close the garden is welcomed,” Medha Kulkarni, a Rajya Sabha member, told TOI.Last year, she raised an objection to a group of citizens consuming non-vegetarian food as part of their festive celebration at the garden. Mayor Manjusha Nagpure stated in a social media post that the garden will remain closed because of maintenance. She, however, deleted that post and clarified that the closure will be for security reasons in the new post.“I shared the post based on the information received from the civic administration. After new information emerged about the actual reasons, I updated the post,” she said while speaking to reporters.