Observe the following choices made to guarantee safety at the Chithirai festival: Madras High Court
On Monday, the Madurai district authorities were instructed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court to adhere to the 26 orders made in order to ensure the safe conduct of the Chithirai festival. The Madurai District Collector, MS Sangeetha, presided over a combined meeting where the decisions were made.
Following the filing of reports by the collector, the commissioner of city police, and the executive officers of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar and Kallazhagar temples, a bench consisting of Justices R Suresh Kumar and G Arul Murugan issued the directive. In an earlier hearing, the court had ordered the authorities to submit reports based on petitions filed in Public Interest Litigations (PILs), asking for orders to organize the event with sufficient police protection and other safeguards.
The authorities said that on April 6, they had a joint meeting with the collector, police commissioners, and other attendees to evaluate and discuss the festival’s plans. During this meeting, they made 26 choices to guarantee the event would be handled peacefully.
On April 20, 1,042 police officers will be assigned to Digvijayam under the direction of a single Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), while on April 21, 3,171 officers will be assigned to the heavenly wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar under the supervision of four DCPs. For the car festival and Ethirsevai on April 21, 1,155 police officers will be assigned to three DCPs; on April 23, 3,430 officers will be assigned to six DCPs for the Kallazhagar procession and the ensuing immersion in the Vaigai River, which is expected to be witnessed by thousands of devotees. When Kallazhagar comes home on April 24 and 26, some 1,375 police officers will be put into action.
The court continued the case until April 18 in order to review the compliance report, ordering that the judgments be followed and that any required preparations be completed by April 18.
