Panaji: The opposition Congress on Friday protested against the hosting of Sunburn EDM Festival in Goa amid the coronavirus pandemic. The state health minister, however, said people may attend it while following the necessary safety protocol.
The Goa Tourism Department has given permission for the `Electronic Dance Music’ (EDM) festival which will be held at Vagator in North Goa district on December 27-28. Congress leaders staged a protest outside a hotel here where the organizers of the festival were to address a press conference.
State Congress spokesperson Sankulp Amonkar demanded that the festival be canceled as it could become an infection hotspot. “People have stayed indoors and protected themselves from COVID-19 all this time. New cases continue to be reported during testing,” he said.
“Don’t expect people to participate in Sunburn with masks on or by maintaining social distancing. We all know what happens at this kind of festivals,” he said. But health minister Vishwajit Rane, talking to reporters after chairing an expert committee’s meeting on COVID-19, said people may attend such events “but go with face shields, masks and hand gloves”.
“I will definitely request the Chief Minister to impose stringent standard operating procedure for the festival and there should be a clause that if organizers allow the protocols to be violated, they should be penalized severely, the minister said. Harinder Singh, Chairman and Managing Director of Percept Live which organizes the Sunburn Festival, said measures would be taken to prevent the spread of the virus.
The number of participants will be restricted to 10,000 per day, he said.
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