THRISSUR: With the festival season in the state set to begin after the Navarathri celebrations, festival fans in general and Thrissur Pooram organisers, in particular, are a worried lot as the central government has imposed strict curbs on fireworks display.
As per the latest Central government notification, the magazine where explosives are kept should be 100m away from the fireworks display ground or fire line. For Thrissur Pooram, the magazine is normally placed 45m away from the fire line. The notification suggests keeping the crowd 200m away from the fire line while the pooram organisers had urged the government to make it 60m.
“We have been asking the state and central governments to make interventions to reduce the distance from fire line to the magazine to 60 m. Since 2018, we have been raising the same demand. What is the purpose of all these colourful pyrotechnic shows if people can’t watch it?” asked Girishkumar K, secretary, Thiruvambady Devaswom.
At present, the distance from the fire line is 100 m, and people are not allowed to enter the Swaraj Round.
Police erect barricades on the Swaraj Round and people have to stand on pocket roads or on top of buildings to watch fireworks display. After assuming office as Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Suresh Gopi had convened a meeting to address the issue. He had assured devaswoms that he would try his best to review the process so that people would be able to watch Pooram without hassles. However, it seems, Suresh Gopi was unaware of the new notification issued by the centre, as the new norms were just the opposite of what he had promised after becoming minister.
Revenue Minister K Rajan earlier said that he wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the matter. “If the notification is not amended, it will affect the conduct of Thrissur Pooram. Not only pooram, but many local festivals will be forced to cut down rituals,” he said.
Paramekkavu Devaswom secretary G Rajesh said that the regulation not to use any steel or iron rods or bars near the fireworks display would affect the practice here. For the past seven decades or more, iron rods and hooks are being used to fix the paper tubes to the ground and also to ensure vertical propulsion of aerial items. Paramekkavu Devaswom urged the central government to review the latest regulations.
Meanwhile, the Heritage Animal Task Force welcomed the stringent measures issued by the government.
Brahmana Sabha unhappy
Kerala Brahmana Sabha staged a protest at Poonkunnam on Monday against the stringent rules issued by the central government. The Brahmana Sabha members lit light fireworks like ‘Kambithiri,’ ‘Mathappu’ and other glittering crackers as a part of the protest.
