MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Monday directed the Madurai district authorities to comply with the 26 decisions taken to conduct the Chithirai festival safely. The decisions were taken during a joint meeting chaired by Madurai District Collector MS Sangeetha.
A bench of Justices R Suresh Kumar and G Arul Murugan issued the direction after the collector, city police commissioner and executive officers of the Meenakshi Sundareswarar temple and the Kallazhagar temple filed their reports. The court, during a previous hearing, had directed the authorities to file reports based on Public Interest Litigations (PIL) petitions, seeking directions to conduct the festival with adequate police protection and other measures.
The authorities submitted that they conducted a joint meeting chaired by the collector, police commissioners and others to discuss and review the arrangements for the festival on April 6, during which they took 26 decisions to ensure the peaceful conduct of the festival.
A total of 1,042 police personnel under the command of one Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) will be deployed on April 20 for Digvijayam, while 3,171 police personnel under the supervision of four DCPs will be deployed on April 21 for the celestial wedding of Meenakshi and Sundareswarar. On April 21, 1,155 police personnel will be deployed under three DCPs for the car festival and Ethirsevai, while 3,430 police personnel under six DCPs will be deployed on April 23 for the Kallazhagar procession and the subsequent immersion in the Vaigai River, which is set to be witnessed by lakhs of devotees. Between April 24 and 26, around 1,375 police personnel will be deployed when Kallazhagar returns to his abode.
The court said the decisions shall be complied with and necessary arrangements should be made before April 18, and adjourned the case to April 18 to check the compliance report.