Security measures hassle residents

Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi may have pleased commuters of Thane-Bhiwandi-Kalyan by laying the foundation stone of the Metro 5 project at Kalyan but local residents claimed that his visit caused inconvenience to them as the police forced them to shut down the nearby shops and crematorium as safety measure.

Mr Modi laid the foundation stone of the metro corridor at Phadke Maidan near the Lal Chowki area in Kalyan west. Owing to the event, there was tight security at the venue and surrounding areas. According to local residents however, a board was placed outside the nearby crematorium, stating that no last rites would be performed till the rally got over.

A senior police official said that they had directed the crematorium management to keep the facility closed for the day on Tuesday due to the PM’s public rally.

“We had to send people back as we had orders from the police to keep the crematorium closed Tuesday in view of Mr Modi’s event, just over 200 metres away. Since Monday evening, we were telling everyone to come Wednesday or go to some other crematorium. We took only one body early in the morning because its condition was worse and had to be cremated immediately. The cremation was started only after 4 pm,” said security guard Parsh-uram Patil.

To protest the closing of the crematorium, act-ivists of the Mahara-shtra Navnirman Sena led a mock funeral procession at Khadakpada. Former Maharashtra Navnirman Sena  MLA Prak-ash Bhoir also participated in the procession.