Kochi comes alive with New Year revelry

Kochi New Year Eve revelry, free of incidents, with tight security, traffic curbs, and arrests for drug offenses.

The New Year Eve revelry held in Kochi and Fort Kochi — a premier heritage tourism hub where tens of thousands of people from within Kerala, other States, and abroad converge on December 31 each year to partake in the celebrations — was free of major untoward incidents.

Aimed at averting a stampede-like situation that dimmed the celebrations during a few past year-ends, the police threw a thick security blanket and imposed traffic curbs on roads that led to Fort Kochi and nearby areas. The Motor Vehicles department (MVD), district administration, and other agencies too pooled their resources to ensure the smooth conduct of the revelry in Fort Kochi, other popular beach destinations, and Marine Drive. During the past couple of days, the police, MVD, and Excise had initiated steps to prevent drunk driving and drug peddling during the celebrations.

A ‘Papanji’ was burnt in effigy at Veli Ground, while the traditional ‘Burning of Papanji’ that was slated to be held at Parade Ground was dropped due to the week-long mourning in connection with the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Following this, the annual Cochin Carnival rally that was to be held on December 31 in Fort Kochi has been postponed to January 2.

At Parade Ground, the steel frame of a 50-foot Papanji that would otherwise be burnt in effigy was witness to visitors who thronged the locale.

A total of 1,000 police personnel were deployed as part of security measures. This was apart from 400 CCTVs that were installed at Veli Ground and in the rest of Fort Kochi. In addition, a dedicated police evacuation team and ambulances too were kept ready.

In combined operations, the police, Excise and Narcotics Control Bureau personnel, aided by sniffer dogs raided suspected locales to detect narcotic drugs usage. Five people were arrested, four cases registered, and 165 gm ganja seized on the day.

Aimed at preventing huge rush of people to the locale, ferries to Fort Kochi halted trips by 7 p.m., only to resume past midnight when the celebrations waned and people dispersed. In Kochi, the metro operated more trips from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., while the services were extended to well into midnight to cater for people dispersing to their destinations.