Learning lessons from 2022 stampede incident, policing should be improved during Chithirai festival, says Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan

The Hindu

27-04-2025

'As we have already witnessed the obvious fault lines in traffic management and crowd control that caused the death and stampede of devotees during 2022 Chithirai festival, we should be extra cautious during this year's festival arrangements,' Minister for Information Technology and Digital Services PTR Palanivel Thiaga Rajan has said.
The remarks came at a Chithirai festival preparatory meeting held here on Sunday.
A study conducted following the incident revealed that of the 200 vehicles on Government Rajaji Hospital Road, more than 100 were parked permanently. Hence, in order to prevent such incidents, police should ensure zero parking in crucial areas 24 hours prior to the event, he said.
As major construction works were under way at Goripalayam and other areas, they should be tightly secured and all other places posing danger to the public should be barricaded and restricted. Akin to the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) pass system or QR code pass system, which were used during the Tiruvannamalai temple event, a similar pass was to be introduced for the Chithirai festival too, he added.
'The system has been introduced to rule out misuse of pass by the public and VIPs,' he further said.
He also directed the district administration to deploy senior revenue officials or senior police officials at VIP and VVIP entrances. 'Senior officials would be more suitable to handle important visitors trying to flout the entry rules. Also, in case of VIPs, the situation should be handled calmly and CCTV recordings can be perused for further action.'
Instead of allowing devotees to the last temple point, they should be controlled even before the buffer zone of the temple for better crowd management. Learning from past experiences, police, revenue and temple administration officials should work together for better crowd management, he said.
Ruling out Mr. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan's statement that the 2022 fatal stampede was due to police mismanagement, Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration P. Moorthy said the unfortunate event that took place near Thevar statue at Goripalayam had nothing to do with the Vaigai river event.
'The failure of the temple administration to stop Lord Kallazhagar at the 'mandagapadis' caused the devotees to flood the venue to witness the deity,' he said.
Madurai City Police Commissioner J. Loganathan said that as a precautionary measure more than 700 police personnel were to be deployed around the temple during the celestial wedding (thirukalyanam) event and 60 teams were to be deployed during Lord Azahagar's entry into the Vaigai.
Madurai Lok Sabha MP Su. Venkatesan said that frequently reported issue of the police department and judiciary misusing the event passes should be regulated strictly.
On crowd management, he said in addition to deploying police personnel on the left side of Albert Victor bridge, the right side of the bridge, where thousands of people gather to donate hair, should also be monitored and controlled. Also, water facilities should be arranged in all places to prevent devotees from getting dehydrated due to the scorching heat.
Officials complained that the State Highways Department was showing slackness in clearing the construction works at the flyover near Goripalayam.
The Ministers instructed the district administration to expedite the works and also to clear the water hyacinth in Vaigai River.
Collector M.S. Sangeetha, Mayor Indrani Ponvasanth, Corporation Commissioner Chitra Vijayan, Superintendent of Police B.K. Arvind were among those present.