Ganesh Chaturthi 2012, Pune: dangers and safety

If you read the local newspapers, you get an idea of which safety risks are involved in a big event as this one and what is done about that.



1. A few years ago there was swine flu going around, what tempered the enthusiasme for the celebrations in that year. Many people were wearing mouthmasks then.
At the moment their is bird flu going around, dengue and diseases like that. In principle we are not eating, drinking or touching people downtown, so I think our risk is minimal.


2. Barely two months ago there were 'small' bombings in Pune and Pune has had its fair share of terrorism attacks, so no wonder that the city and police took a lot of extra measures this year.

 When the four small bomb blasts hit Pune, we could see pictures in the papers of a bomb squad officer investigating the scenes without adequate protective gear. At several suspicious occasions in the weeks after, we saw a bomb squad officer protected by....a motorbike helmet. And now the police chief finds one bomb suit enough. I sure hope he is right!

I must say, that this does scare me a bit, the chance of a terrorist attack.



3. Deafness and hearing loss due to the extremely loud drum bands going around.

The noise seems to be the loudest on the 29th, so I have to remember to bring my earplugs when I go out that day!

There is indeed a lot of police, traffic controllers etc in the streets, so that is reassuring, I guess.

Ah well, we'll just take our chances, right?! There are dangers and risks everywhere;-).


Talking about drum bands; tomorrow I will show you some pictures of those.