Firemen and cops' red tape extinguishes Ravan Dahan

The city might just be developing its own tradition of celebrating Dussehra ufffd by bursting plenty of firecrackers without the traditional Ravan Dahan. All thanks to tedious bureaucratic procedures.

Mandatory permissions and security measures have dampened the Dussehra spirit in the city.

The fire brigade and the local police are the two agencies involved in giving the permission. If an organisation wants to burn an effigy, it has to obtain permission from the police. The permission is given if the organisers have certain things in place, including the presence of two fire experts during the event and two fire extinguishers. Also if the event is on a large scale, they also have to arrange for a water tanker. The police in turn obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the fire brigade.

The effigy burning tradition has seen a decline since 1995, when the city used to witness the popular Ravan Dahan at the GJ Medical Grounds. In 1995, the police refused to give permission and the event stopped. According to police officials, they are hesitant in giving permissions to organisers because of lack of open spaces in the city.u00a0

Sangeeta Tiwari, president of Education Board, Pune Municipal Corporation, used to conduct Ravan effigy burning programme till last year. "We constantly face a problem of permissions. Besides, access to open grounds is not easy. That's why we decided to skip the idea of Ravan Dahan this year," said Tiwari.

However, the fire brigade officials do not think their rules are to blame.

Prashant Ranpise, fire brigade chief, agreed that the traditional custom of burning the effigy of Ravan has declined in the city.

"We did not receive any applications seeking permission. Last year we gave permission to an organisation in Bhawani Peth," said Ranpise.