Isha Mahashivratri celebrations: Madras High Court dismisses plea to stall event
The Hindu
The Madras High Court on Monday (February 24, 2025) dismissed a writ petition that sought to stall the Mahashivratri celebrations scheduled to be held at the Isha Yoga Centre located on Velliangiri foothills in Coimbatore district.
The Madras High Court on Monday (February 24, 2025) dismissed a writ petition that sought to stall the Mahashivratri celebrations scheduled to be held at the Isha Yoga Centre located on Velliangiri foothills in Coimbatore district on the intervening night between February 26 and 27, 2025.
A Division Bench of Justices S.M. Subramaniam and K. Rajasekar rejected the plea after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) said, Isha Foundation had made seating arrangements for 60,000 people for the 2024 Mahashivratri celebrations and had complied with all the pollution norms.
The judges also recorded the submission of Additional Advocate General (AAG) J. Ravindran, representing the TNPCB, that the officials shall keep watch on the ambient noise level during this year’s celebrations as well and check whether it remains within the permissible limit of 75 dB(A).
In his counter affidavit, TNPCB Member Secretary R. Kannan said, the yoga centre had four Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) with a total capacity of 1.725 MLD and they were sufficient to treat the sewage generated by around 6,000 people residing there and about 5,000-10,000 people who visit the centre daily.
For the 2025 Mahashivratri celebrations, the yoga centre had been advised to install temporary toilets for the additional crowd and engage tanker lorries to transport the sewage to the STP operated by the Coimbatore Corporation. The centre had also been asked to maintain a log book for the transportation.
Though the writ petitioner S.T. Sivagnanam, a neighbouring land owner, had claimed that around seven lakh people had gathered for the 2024 Mahashivratri celebrations, even as per a tweet by Isha Foundation, the TNPCB said, seating arrangement was made for only 60,000 people last year.
Therefore, considering sewage generation of 12 litre per capita, the Board said the proposed generation for 60,000 people would be 720 KL, which could be comfortably treated at the Coimbatore Corporation’s STP that had a total capacity to treat 70 MLD but was, at present, treating only 30 MLD.
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