The authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur on Sunday began covering 72 mosques and mazars along the routes of the traditional “Joota Maar Holi” procession with tarpaulin sheets, IANS quoted Municipal Commissioner Vipin Mishra as saying.

In recent years, religious processions in several states have led to instances of communal violence.

Holi in Shahjahanpur is marked by a “Laat Saheb” procession, during which participants throw footwear at a man impersonating a British officer seated on a bullock cart. The procession begins with prayers at the Phoolmati Devi temple and then moves through the city, PTI reported.

Holi will be celebrated on March 4 this year.

“Shahjahanpur’s small and large Laat Saheb processions are an integral part of the city’s historic tradition,” Mishra told IANS. “Covering religious sites is a purely precautionary step.”

On Monday, Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi told PTI that four additional superintendents of police, 13 circle officers, 310 sub-inspectors, 1,200 constables and 500 home guards will be deployed along the route. He said that this would be about one and a half times the number of security personnel deployed the previous year.

Personnel from the Provincial Armed Constabulary, the Rapid Action Force and the National Disaster Response Force will also be stationed in the area.

Additionally, 148 lanes opening onto the procession route will be barricaded to prevent sudden crowd surges, PTI reported.

Dwivedi urged residents to celebrate Holi peacefully and said that action will be taken against those who disrupt the festival, the news agency reported.

He added that peace committee meetings involving members of various religious communities have been held ahead of the festival.