Cops pull plug on David Guetta concert in Mumbai

Mumbai: After Bengaluru, French DJ David Guetta’s concert in Mumbai on Friday got cancelled as well, with the Mumbai police saying that the organisers of the Sunburn festival — of which the concert was to be a part — did not complete the “mandatory requirements and legal formalities”. The concert’s organisers had allegedly not submitted to the police the mandatory security plan, traffic police’s No Objection Certificate (NOC), copies of work visas of non-Indian performers and the collector’s permission, said a senior police officer.

The officer said that “ensuring the security of Mumbai citizens is the topmost priority for the police”. He said, “The police needs at least 48 hours to vet requirements in order to give permission for such a concert. Even now, they can do the needful and organise the concert two-three days later.”       

Friday’s event was shifted to the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) from the original venue of Mahalaxmi Racecourse after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) denied permission for the concert to be held there. The organisers had approached the Mumbai police on Thursday for permission for the event. “Permission for Friday’s Sunburn programme at BKC is rejected by the Mumbai police since the organisers did not complete the mandatory requirements and legal formalities,” said Mumbai police’s spokesperson and DCP (operations), Ashok Dudhe.

When contacted by The Asian Age about the police’s move, the spokesperson of the concert’s organiser, Percept, said, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Sunburn Arena with David Guetta in Mumbai has been cancelled for today. Please wait for a few hours for further updates regarding the show.”

BMC assistant commissioner Prashant Gaikwad said, “As far as the BMC was concerned, the only permission required was from the fire brigade, which the organisers had obtained. Since the venue was owned by the MMRDA, other permissions were supposed to be given by them.” MMRDA officials remained unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts. “The tickets for the event have probably been sold for a month now, but the organisers still did not do the needful and only gave a one-page request letter to us on Thursday,” said the senior officer.

The officer said, “They did not give us the security plan, the traffic police’s NOC, and copies of work visas of performers who were to come from abroad. They had not even taken the collector’s permission or approached us for discussing key details related to security for holding the concert.” The officer said, “If you are expecting an attendance that could reach many thousands, then certain key requirements were to be complied with. The police needed to know their security plan — how many guards were they employing, how many door-frame or hand-held metal detectors were being used, and how many participants would be there per square foot, among others.” He added, “But no details were given to us.” According to the officer, the police had deployed 500 of its personnel around the venue of an earlier concert of British rock band Coldplay, which occurred on November 19 last year.