Thrissur Pooram ‘disruption’ inquiry points to avoidable oversights, suggests corrective steps

A State police investigation into the alleged disruption of the Thrissur Pooram, which arguably put the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government on the defensive ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, has reportedly pointed to a succession of avoidable oversights but stops short of directly apportioning blame to any entity involved in the iconic festival’s conduct.

According to government sources, the report submitted by Additional Director General of Police, Law and Order, Manoj Abraham, limits itself to a slew of measures to eliminate the alleged administrative and planning blind spots, which caused a raging controversy, arguably impacting public opinion during the politically crucial period.

Officials privy to the report said the inquiry stressed that stakeholders, including the Thiruvambadi-Paramekkavu Devaswoms and the district administration, strike a consensus on sensitive matters such as crowd control, closure of roads, vehicular and pedestrian traffic management, fireworks and elephant processions, instead of taking arbitrary and spur-of-the-moment decisions that cause unnecessary friction.

(The devaswoms had complained that the police had kept them in the dark about evacuating people ahead of the traditional fireworks and barricading roads allegedly with no prior notice and in an off-the-cuff manner, arguably causing disaffection among lakhs of devotees with the government). 

The police should primarily inform the public and traders about the closure time of exhibition stalls ahead of the customary fireworks to pre-empt disputes. Officials said the report recommends issuing identity cards to elephant handlers to avoid any future controversy of the police preventing fodder bearers.

Public safety

It also suggests more substantial steps to ensure public safety during the fireworks display, including positioning the magazine, its security and the timing of carting the explosives to the firing tubes.  

They said the inquiry report recommends issuing wireless networks to revenue officers to keep communication channels open in real-time, given that sizeable mobile-phone-wielding festival crowds cause service provider networks to overload. 

Briefing the police

Officials said the inquiry underscored the need to properly and repeatedly brief the constabulary and select experienced officers with local connections for festival duty. The police should also continuously keep the devaswoms and other departments in their decision-making loop via mobile phones and other digital platforms. 

The report suggests deploying a wireless-equipped police officer in each ambulance and strategically locating the vehicles to cover the festival area efficiently. 

Officials said the report also recommends using the active service of Motor Vehicles department officials to regulate traffic and decide the schedule and route of private and KSRTC stage carriages ferrying people in and out of the festival locality.