With just a day to go for the first major jallikattu of the year in Madurai district at Avaniapuram, arrangements are being made in full swing despite delays faced last week owing to conflicts within the local organising committee.
For the first time, the district administration has made it compulsory for all bull tamers to insure themselves under Prime Minister Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) against fatal or non-fatal injuries that may be incurred during the event.
Collector S. Natarajan told The Hindu that the PMSBY, which allowed people in the age group of 18 to 70 to insure themselves, provided a risk coverage of ₹2 lakh for accidental deaths and full disability and ₹1 lakh for partial disability.
Stating that bull tamers could insure themselves for a minimum period of one year by paying a premium of just ₹12, he said the district administration would bear the premium cost if tamers did not want to pay. “However, all of them must sign the form to give consent to join the scheme,” he added.
“We are hopeful that the events will be injury-free with adequate safety arrangements in place. Nevertheless, it is prudent for tamers to insure themselves,” he said.
Officials said 596 tamers and 691 bulls had registered for the Avaniapuram jallikattu to be held on Tuesday.
On Sunday, the organising committee, appointed by the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court under the chairmanship of retired Principal District Judge C. Raghavan, met at Avaniapuram to review the arrangements.
The High Court Bench appointed the organising committee following writ petitions filed by different groups due to issues within the organising committee comprising local people that usually conducted the event.
Melur Revenue Divisional Officer A. Sivakami, who heads the committee of revenue officials formed to ensure smooth conduct of the event, said all arrangements were going as per schedule.
“Representatives of different departments like Fire and Rescue Services and Health and Family Welfare (HFW) participated in the meeting,” she said. Four fire tenders, 11 ambulances and medical teams from Health and Animal Husbandry departments would be deployed at the venue. Erection of barricades was being done by Madurai Corporation.
Arrangements are also being made in full swing at Palamedu and Alanganallur, where jallikattu will be conducted on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
