District Collector U.V. Jose on Thursday issued an order banning all sorts of events and protests in front of the S.K. Pottekkatt statue on S.M. Street in the city.
The directive is the continuation of an earlier order specifying the type of programmes that could be held in front of the iconic commercial street that was renovated recently. “An earlier order had allowed small events. But many organisers ignored this order. Hence a fresh order,” Mr. Jose told The Hindu .
Some groups had misused the order by organising protests in the name of small gatherings and events. None of these organisations obtain permission to hold the programmes. Incidentally, a book release had been planned at the open space on Thursday.
The district administration decided to ban protests and meetings in front of the S.M. Street as they were posing inconvenience to people, especially in the evenings. The city corporation council had also adopted a resolution highlighting the problem at a meeting last month.
Mayor Thottathil Raveendran had taken up the issue with elected representatives including legislators. Subsequently, a meeting chaired by Excise Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan was also called to discuss the issue that had worsened in the past few months.
People have been complaining about organisers usurping the open space. Already, a ban on the entry of vehicles to S.M. Street is in place.
The ban was implemented after a series of talks with traders and various other stakeholders.
