The two-day Vashi Hindi Conference scheduled for September 14 and 15 at the CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Navi Mumbai has prompted planning for security, traffic management and parking during the Ganeshotsav period, according to a report by Loksatta-Navi Mumbai.
The sixth Akhil Bharatiya Rajbhasha Sammelan is being organised by the Union government to mark Hindi Day. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is expected to attend the conference on one of the two days, alongside senior ministers, officials and representatives from the central and Maharashtra governments.
The event will take place on the first day of Ganeshotsav and during a period when Navi Mumbai and the wider Mumbai Metropolitan Region typically manage festival-related movement and security arrangements. The second day of the conference will coincide with the immersion of one-and-a-half-day Ganesh idols, adding to the administrative and policing requirements in the region, the report said.
The CIDCO Exhibition Centre in Vashi has been reserved for the conference on both days. Hindi literary organisations, institutions, office-bearers and members from different parts of the country have been invited. Accommodation and food arrangements for the delegates are also expected to be made in the area, while the full programme is likely to be announced within the coming week.
Planning is under way to provide parking for more than 10,000 vehicles at and around the exhibition centre. The authorities are considering taking over the parking area opposite the Tunga Hotel in Vashi for the purpose. The arrangements are expected to accommodate delegates, officials and security personnel attending the event.
A senior Navi Mumbai police official told Loksatta that review meetings were being held to plan the deployment of special police units and security personnel. The report did not provide details of road closures, traffic diversions or the final security deployment plan.
The conference comes amid recent political and public disputes in Maharashtra and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region over the use of Marathi in public life. The issue has also figured in disagreements over whether auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers should be required to use Marathi, with some non-Marathi-speaking drivers opposing such demands.
The scheduling of a large Hindi-language gathering in Vashi during Ganeshotsav has therefore drawn attention in the region. However, the report does not establish whether the conference schedule or the expected ministerial attendance will lead to changes in the festival’s existing traffic and immersion arrangements.
Further details of the conference programme, official attendance and traffic plan are expected to be released during the week before the September 14 opening. Police and administrative authorities are continuing preparatory meetings for the event.
