Will regulate temple festival in STR, TN govt assures High Court

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that it would take appropriate steps to regulate the Arulmighu Karuvannarayar Bommadevar temple festival in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve area in the Erode district.

P Muthukumar, Government Pleader, made this submission before the first bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Krishnakumar. The bench was hearing a petition filed by a Coimbatore-based resident named P Karpagam, founder of the Oli Awareness Movement.

The petitioner sought direction from the court to the Chief Conservator of Forest and Field Officer, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve and the temple management to allow only the carrying capacity of devotees to the temple festival and restrain the respondents from allowing too much of the crowd to take part in the temple festival.

“During the full moon days, hundreds of vehicles will go inside the core area of the STR for the celebration of the temple festival. Certainly, on the full moon day of the Tamil month Maasi, about 50000 devotees will go to the temple and stay there for two to three days. As per the Union Ministry of Forest, Environment and Climate Change, no human population should be allowed above the carrying capacity into the Tiger Reserves,” the petitioner submitted through his counsel SP Chockalingam.

He further added that for the Karuvannarayar temple festival, more people go and they cook, eat and litter the place which will cause grave effects to the ecosystem.

Reacting to the arguments, the GP submitted that the government will take proper steps to regulate the crowd and only 50,000 people will be allowed for the festival.

Recording the submissions, the judge directed the government to file a report and adjourned the matter for two weeks.