Hyderabad prepares for Ashura processions

Over 3,000 cops deployed for security; routes cleared of rainwater

HYDERABAD:

With around 200 mourning processions to be taken out in Hyderabad on Muharram 10, law enforcement agencies and the district administration made preparations for Ashura.

According to a police spokesperson, over 3,000 policemen had been deployed to provide security to Sunday's processions, with 900 police officers - including commandos of the Rapid Response Force - deputed for the central procession.

The main procession, organised by Anjuman-e-Haideri, will start from Qadam Gah Moula Ali (RA) and conclude at Karbala Dadan Shah after covering a distance of more than one-and-a-half kilometres in six hours.

For security purposes, the mourners are to pass through walkthrough gates, installed near Qadam Gah Moula Ali (RA), to enter the procession. Seven walkthrough gates had been installed for the purpose.

The only exit point will be at Dadan Shah, while around 55 roads and streets intersecting the procession's route will be sealed with barbed wire on the day.

The police have also set up a control room at the office of the City DSP, to monitor the proceedings through the CCTV cameras installed along the route.

Moreover, snipers will also be deployed on tall buildings, whereas the procession route will be cleared by the bomb disposal squad.

The spokesperson added that 1,400 policemen would be deployed separately for the security of other processions in different parts of the district, while 700 more police officials would be deputed for the Taziya processions in the evening. As many as 72 majalis are scheduled to take place in the evening.

The police have also set up pickets at Hyderabad's entrance and exit points. The spokesperson further stated that the police also carried out a combing operation in City taluka, searching the hotels and checking the identities of the people staying there.

Hyderabad deputy commissioner Fuad Ghaffar Soomro told The Express Tribune that the routes of all the major processions had been cleared of rainwater and sewage.

The district had received over 133 millimetres of rain four days ago, submerging all its low-lying localities and flooding hundreds of damaged roads and streets, including those with depression spots.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2020.