Don't blame actor Sivaji's statue for accidents, fans tell HC

CHENNAI: Actor Sivaji Ganesan's statue, installed on the Marina beach in 2006, could not be blamed for the 20 road accidents that had occurred since 2012, an association of his fans told the Madras high court, adding that the FIRs registered since 2006 had never mentioned the statue as being reason for any road accident in the area.
A submission to this effect was made by K Chandrasekaran, president of Nadigar Thilagam Sivaji Samooganala Peravai, in a petition seeking to implead the association as party to the pending PIL proceedings that wants the statue to be removed or relocated.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice R K Agrawal and Justice K Ravichandrabaabu impleaded Chandrasekaran as part on Friday, and posted the matter before the division bench comprising Justice Satish Kumar Agnihotri and Justice K K Sasidharan for further hearing.
After the PIL of senior advocate R Gandhi sought the removal or relocation of the statue on the ground of road safety, the court had sought opinion from the jurisdictional police about the desirability of the statue's location. The assistant commissioner of police (traffic) of the area has informed the court that in 2012 the road junction where the statue is located witnessed 12 accidents, and in 2013 it witnessed eight accidents. The officer blamed the statue for the mishaps and favoured its relocation.
The present implead petition, opposing removal or relocation of Sivaji statue, said neither police nor drivers involved in those road accidents had ever mentioned the statue as reason for the accidents at the spot since 2006. Also, there are two other structures - a clock tower and a pillar of national emblem - at the same traffic island, Chandrasekaran said.
Pointing out that the issue was raised in 2006 before the erection of the statue, the petition said the high court had not granted any interim stay on the basis of the petition and only thereafter the statue was unveiled. Referring to the then advocate-general's submission in court that the statue was not a traffic hindrance, Chandrasekaran said change or regimes/governments should not result in change of policy or views.
Rise in road accidents in the city is a general phenomenon, he said ,adding that in 2010 the city witnessed 5,133 road accidents, in 2011 it rose to 6,566 and in 2012 the number accidents was 9,663. There are several reasons such as drunk driving, rash driving, bad road conditions and improper signals for rising incidence of road accidents, and it should not be fastened on one statue, especially when there are several statues standing in the middle of roads busier than Kamarajar Salai, it said.