It is final. The annual fish prasadam distribution, organised by the Bathini Goud family on the occasion of Mrigasira Karthi, will be held on the 4-acre plot allotted for a mini-stadium in survey number 48 at Kattedan village in Ranga Reddy district from 7 am on Friday. The fisheries department is set to raise the price of murrel fingerling from Rs 10 to Rs 15 per piece. The prasadam made by Bathinis is stuffed in the mouth of the murrel fingerling, and the live fingerling is pushed down the throat of the devout.
A day after refusing permission to hold the event at either of the two proposed venues in Kattedan and asking the Bathini family to return to the Exhibition Grounds in Hyderabad, the state government took a U-turn on Wednesday. It issued directions to the Ranga Reddy district collectorate and Cyberabad police to make arrangements at Kattedan for the event.
Enquiries by this newspaper found that the main reason the Ranga Reddy district officials and Cyberabad police backed out from supporting the event from being held in Survey No. 49 at Kattedan is that the 5-acre land was resumed by the government from the Bathini family. But the family wanted to hold the event there since the government is yet to take a final decision and the land is still in their possession.
It is learnt that the Bathini family was told about a fortnight ago that the government will not support the event if they insist on holding it on the disputed land. Though Ranga Reddy district administration and the police cited security reasons for refusing permission on Tuesday, on Wednesday they said additional police forces were being brought in to provide security. The collector has called for a meeting of officials on Thursday. Bathini Harinath Goud said they had submitted a representation to the chief secretary earlier in the day, following which instructions were issued to officials to make arran-gements at Kattedan.