Uneasy calm prevailed in Vadodara as over 100 tazias were immersed in the city lakes amid heavy security presence during Muharram on Tuesday. With a blanket ban on mobile data, 2G and 3G Internet, MMS, SMS and social apps and and the enforcement of Section 144 of CrPC to keep large assemblies of people at bay, the old city of Vadodara remained severed from the rest, and deserted as shops and business establishments remained closed. The main road leading from Mandvi gate to Champaner and towards Bhandwada resembled a fortress even as saffron and green flags fluttered from electric poles. These flags were installed by members of the Hindu community to mark Thursday's celebrations of 'Narsiji no Varghodo' and Muslims who observed Muharram on Tuesday. However, no incident of communal clash was reported from the city on Tuesday but frictions between community members over installation of flags last week and a minor incident of stone pelting on Monday night, kept the walled city on the edge even as tazias were immersed in Sarasiya lake on Tuesday. In a departure from usual practice on Tuesday, the tazias reached Sarasiya lake without loudspeakers and DJs – part of the preventive police notification. In September, the Ganesh immersion processions too were prohibited from playing music. Learning its lessons from the violent clashes during Navratrti - that saw as many as five incidents of stabbing and attacks in three days – the police cordoned off sensitive bylanes of the walled city to traffic. A team of SRPF personnel manned the entry points to each lane in Fatehpura, Kumbharwada and other sensitive areas. At the Fatehpura junction, commuters were seen confronting unrelenting policemen who stood their ground about barricaded roads and
