Police want 40ft Pappanji at Veli Ground removed; organisers unmoved

EVEN AS the Cochin Carnival reaches a feverish pitch, a tense situation continues to prevail at the Veli Ground in Fort Kochi after the police ordered the dismantling of a 40-feet-tall Pappanji, a giant effigy of an old man symbolising the passing year, placed at the venue.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @Kochi

But the organisers seem unmoved for now.

It all started when the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mattancherry, issued a notice to the organisers, the Gala de Fort Kochi Club, on December 18, directing the latter to dismantle the 'Pappanji' within 24 hours, citing crowd-control measures.

Around 1,000 police personnel have to be deployed at the Parade Ground, the official site of the annual effigy burning on the midnight of December 31, to ensure the safety of thousands of tourists and local residents who gather there to herald the New Year. Hence, the City Police will not be able to deploy its personnel at the Veli Ground, located nearly two kilometres away from the Parade Ground, the notice said.