Plea to restrict Vinayaka Chaturthi fete to three days

A division bench comprising Justice M Sathyanarayanan and Justice M Sundar, before whom the PIL came up for hearing on Monday, issued notice to the state and directed the Registry to tag the present PIL along with another one regarding rampant power theft during the festival and posted them for hearing to August 23.

The bench also directed the Additional Public Prosecutor C Manishankar to submit details of permission sought and granted for the installation of such Vinayaka idols in Chennai.

The petitioner M Subash of George Town contended that many local groups and political parties have circulated pamphlets regarding installation of Vinayaka idols on August 25 and thereafter immersion of them on September 3 followed by 10 days of pooja and celebrations.

Noting that the deployment of security and maintaining law and order for such a long period would result in routine police work getting affected, he said the organisers are likely to take out the procession of the idols on September 3, whereas Bakrid festival falls on September 2, during which Muslims slaughter cattle for offering ‘Qurbani’.

Hence, simultaneous gathering of Muslims and Hindus can lead to law and order problem, he said.

The petitioner also submitted that despite strict directions by the Pollution Control Board that the idols should be made only out of clay, the idols are made of different types of materials like Plaster of Paris.

Hence, unless the display of idols is restricted and regulated, tons and tons of waste mixed with different types of chemicals will come into the city and the same will cause severe damage to the environment, the petitioner contended.

Based on these aspects it is imperative that the government is directed to frame guidelines to protect the environment and safeguard communal peace and tranquility during the celebrations, he added.