PANAJI: Tourism minister Manohar ‘Babu’ Ajgaonkar on Monday said that the state government has decided to hold the Shigmo parade in Goa and that the towns where the parade will be held will be decided within three days.
He also gave his approval for the “traditional route” for the Carnival floats parade through Panaji which is scheduled to be held on February 13. Accordingly, the Carnival floats parade will assemble at the Divja Circle under the old Mandovi bridge and proceed towards the old Secretariat where it would be flagged off by dignitaries. The parade will then move through DB Marg and culminate at the Kala Academy junction.
A day after Panaji MLA Atanasio ‘Babush’ Monserrate demanded that the Panaji Carnival parade must be held on the traditional route, Ajgaonkar said that the government will follow the route suggested by the Panaji Carnival committee. “As per the Panaji Carnival committee recommendation we will hold the Carnival parade on that route. We’ll go by the route followed last year,” Ajgaonkar said, adding that the state government will hold the parade in Margao and Panaji.
While the state administration appeared in favour of moving the parade to Miramar, Panaji MLA as well as the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) insisted that the “traditional route” be followed.
Former chief minister Manohar Parrikar had moved the Carnival and Shigmo parades in 2017 out of the main city area to avoid inconvenience to the public due to traffic congestions. Despite opposition, Parrikar had decided to hold Carnival and Shigmo in Panaji along the area where the statue of Goa’s first chief minister Dayanand Bandodkar at Miramar is situated to the statue of Jack Sequeira at Dona Paula circle, who is known as father of the Opinion Poll in Goa. “We cannot allow inconvenience to the public because of the parade and it should be held between statues of Bandokar and Sequeira,” Parrikar had said.
“People have to follow the standard operating procedure at the Carnival parade. A lot of people have come to Goa to celebrate the new year and after taking all precautions they enjoyed the celebrations. The show must go on,” Ajgaonkar said. He said that protective face masks should be worn during the Carnival festivities. He also said that the parade will showcase the tradition of the state and that the Carnival helps boost tourism in the state and the government will continue holding the Carnival parade. He also added that Carnival and Shigmo have made Goa famous internationally.
Ajgaonkar also said that he has requested chief minister Pramod Sawant to allocate money for tourism from Rs300 crore which has been allotted by the Union government for celebrating the 60th year of Goa’s Liberation.