E-Paper
Holi in the time of coronavirus: colour and masks in Pune
Pune The city saw a muted, but nevertheless colourful Holi and “Dhuliwandan” celebrations on Monday and Tuesday, even as news of five Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases
Pune The city saw a muted, but nevertheless colourful Holi and “Dhuliwandan” celebrations on Monday and Tuesday, even as news of five Covid-19 (coronavirus) cases was confirmed.
Several Holi celebrations organised at lawns and on open grounds in areas like Kharadi, Mundhwa, Katraj and Chinchwad, among other areas, went ahead with better-than-average crowd attendance and masks in sight.
Pune collector Naval Kishore Ram had appealed for the public to avoid large gatherings and crowded places.
For hundreds of youth in the city that was not to be the case, as the Holi fervour kicked in and took off on Tuesday.
Sweety Shah, a student at a private event on Tuesday, said, “We are aware that there is a threat of coronavirus and we are wearing the masks as a precaution, but we can’t stop celebrating Holi as its our colourful event of the year.”
Another youth, Rakesh Kavitke said, “Every year we organise this Holi celebration event at Hadapsar on a private lawn, and this year also it was held. Though the attendance was low this year, we certainly played with colour.”
Meanwhile, Pune police were on the beat checking and penalising public violating traffic rules and disturbing the peace. Policemen on the roads are also now sporting masks.
