The much-awaited Sunburn festival has hit controversy once again. The Pune police have denied permission for the fest over security issues
Pune: The much-awaited Sunburn festival has hit controversy once again. The Pune police have denied permission for the fest over security issues. mid-day in its September 26 edition had reported about the festival authorities announcing the venue minus police permission.
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In 2016, Sunburn had announced that it would move to a new destination (from Goa) inMaharashtra, at the Kesnand Hills, Pune. The venue comes under the forest department and local residents vehemently opposed the festival at the venue. It was then shifted to Moshi, but there local residents opposed it saying the area came under a development project. After the Moshi venue, too, was denied permission, Sunburn 11 was planned to be hosted at Mahalakshmi Lawns on Nagar Road Highway.
The airport police station, which falls under the jurisdiction of Pune city police station, on Thursday, submitted its report claiming there were security issues as the airport as well as defence base were situated in the area. As more than a lakh of people would be coming to the festival, it would be difficult to manage traffic. Hence, permission was denied.
Harindra Singh, chairman and MD of Percept Limited, the media firm behind the festival, said, “This is injustice. The location is far from the airport and in the past various events have been held at the same spot. Why are only we being targeted? If there are security issues, all events being hosted there should be stopped.”