The Hindu : Front Page : Court order puts Pooram in a fix: Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 21, 2007
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Court order puts Pooram in a fix: Minister

Special Correspondent

M. Vijayakumar says State to file review petition.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Law Minister M. Vijayakumar has said that this year's Thrissur Pooram festival is in a predicament following a recent order of the Supreme Court relating to sound pollution.

Replying to a submission by Congress MLA Therambil Ramakrishnan, he said the State Government, all the same, would do everything possible to ensure that the festival was celebrated with splendour and pomp, as in the previous years.

Mr. Vijayakumar said the Supreme Court, in its order, had asked the committee organising the Pooram festival to observe strictly the norms relating to sound pollution while conducting the festival. The famed Pooram pyrotechnics and the grand `panchavadyam' performance on the festival day would amount to breaking the norms, but the Supreme Court had given the organisers an exemption in the case of panchavadyam, Mr. Vijayakumar said.

He said the State Government would submit a review petition in the Supreme Court against the above order as early as possible. More importantly, the Central Act on pollution and the rules framed under the Act should be amended suitably to enable the smooth conduct of such traditional festivals. The State Government would take up this issue with the Union Government, he added.

Earlier, while presenting his submission, Mr. Ramakrishnan said the Thrissur Pooram was synonymous with Kerala culture itself. This grand display of Kerala culture attracted a very large number of people to Thrissur on the Pooram day. In recent years, the event had also become a tourism attraction. Furthermore, the traditional events of the festival provided employment to many artistes in the State.

Mr. Ramakrishnan also alleged that, in the recent months, the authorities were frequently "taking elephants into custody" right in the midst of temple festivals, thereby marring the festivities.

Revenue Minister K.P. Rajendranclarified that there had been several instances of elephants misbehaving during festivals. Elephants were irritable when in `musth,' but even such elephants were being pressed into service.

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