No Republic Day parade at Marine Drive this year

Mumbaikars will not witness the spectacular parade at Marine Drive on Republic Day this year due to security reasons. The parade at Marine Drive was started on the lines of the Delhi celebration at Janpath two years ago. However, this year, the police has alerted the home department and expressed security concerns. It was finally decided by the government to hold a routine ceremony at Shivaji Park ground in central Mumbai instead of the parade.

The citizens have been witnessing a huge show of strength on Republic Day at Marine Drive. It was started by the erstwhile Congress-NCP government to replicate the Republic Day parade in Delhi. Along with the march by the armed forces, the government departments used to display their achievements through tableaux.

“We have received some intelligence inputs that the area with a huge sea front might have a security threat. Therefore, we have decided to called off the parade at Marine Drive and instead hold a ceremony at the Shivaji Park ground,” an official from general administration department said.

The police said it didn’t have enough manpower to handle a huge gathering. “The distance from Marine Drive to Girgaum Chowpatty is 2.8 kilometres. A huge number of people gather to watch the parade and it becomes difficult to handle the crowd. Therefore, the parade venue has been changed to Shivaji Park,” an official from Marine Drive police station said.

The Shivaji Park programme will be held in the presence of the governor. The parade will pass through Dadar and end at Matunga near Five Gardens.