TN GEARS UP FOR SAFE JALLIKATTU

Vets, checkups for players, LED screens among steps taken by authorities

The Tamil Nadu government is leaving nothing to chance to hold a safe and exciting Jallikattu at prominent venues in Madurai during Pongal, the harvest festival of the state, this year.

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government is leaving nothing to chance to hold a safe and exciting Jallikattu at prominent venues in Madurai during Pongal, the harvest festival of the state, this year.

The bull taming sport, a traditional cultural event held every Pongal but banned since 2014, will be held at Avaniapuram on January 14, Pongal eve, at Palamedu the next day and at Alanganallur on January 16.

Thousands of spectators from across the state and other parts of the country are expected to flood the venues to witness the sport that has been mired in a huge controversy over cruelty to the bull.

Following massive protests by people across the state, the Centre and the state government brought in amendments to two laws last year, thereby overruling the Supreme Court ban, and imposing a number of regulations on the holding of the sport.

The new rules mandate that the bulls be over three years old and four feet high and that their horns are not so sharp as to injure the players.

Madurai collector K Veera Raghava Rao told Hindustan Times that elaborate arrangements were being made, with veterinary doctors in place to check and certify the bulls used for the sport and medical teams stationed with ambulances for the players. The players will also be made to undergo tests for physical fitness and also to check if they are inebriated.

“The aim is to ensure that neither the bulls nor the players are medically unfit,” Rao said, adding that there will be strict monitoring and “no one will be allowed to breach the guidelines”.

Elaborating on the arrangements, the collector said 10 animal husbandry department teams, each having six members, will be stationed on the spot to check the animals and prevent acts of cruelty. For the players, there will 10 teams of doctors and ten ambulances stationed near the playing area.

Around 500 policemen will also be stationed at the venues. Fire department personnel will also be on standby. Police will be present to ensure smooth flow of visitors, for whom drinking water and toilets arrangements will be made. In all, around 500 bulls are expected to be used in the sport. The event will begin at 8am and end at 3pm.

The bull screening area, a sixfeet wide gallery, will be covered with coconut coir ropes, with fodder and water for the animals. The playing area — 50 square meters — will also be bound by coconut coir ropes and will have double barricading up to the collection point, and it too will have water for the animals.

There will be LED screens erected at different places to enable people watch the event live. This is to ensure that the main playing area is not overcrowded.

A Special Jallikattu Committee has been formed under the district revenue officer, with officials from different departments. The Jallikattu organising committee will be responsible for the bulls, the playing conditions, the rules and regulations. They will also determine the prize winners.

Animal rights activists however, oppose the new rules, which a constitution bench of the Supreme Court will examine.