THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the Thrissur Pooram disruption has been creating ripples in state politics, Law and Order ADGP Manoj Abraham has reported to the state government that lapses had indeed occurred on the part of various government departments, including police, in the conduct of the annual festival.
The report detailed lapses by the police, revenue, explosives, and forest departments, according to sources. However, the report downplayed the severity of the lapses and their impact, suggesting that there was no need for departmental action against the officials who were on duty in Thrissur.
Sources told TNIE that the ADGP gave 46 recommendations to the government regarding the planning and execution of safety and crowd management measures for the pooram and emphasised on the need for proactive involvement of government departments for the effective handling of pooram affairs.
The report said the departments should have a better say in managing and executing the fireworks and a mechanism should be put in place to ensure proper coordination between the departments and the devaswoms.
The government had tasked Manoj Abraham with probing whether there were lapses from the part of various government departments in conducting the pooram. This was among the three levels of inquiry ordered by the government after accusations that the pooram was disrupted to facilitate electoral gains for the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. It was also alleged that ADGP M R Ajith Kumar played a key role in disrupting the pooram, which prompted the government to go for a multi-tiered probe.