Cyclone Michaung: Formula 4 night street race postponed to Dec 15,16

CHENNAI: Due to the Michaung cyclone, the Formula 4 night Street race has postponed to December 15 and 16, the Tamil Nadu government submitted before the Madras High Court (MHC).

A division bench comprising Justice R Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq heard a batch of cases challenging the Formula 4 night street race scheduled at Island Ground, Chennai.

Advocate General (AG) R Shunmugasundaram submitted the memorandum of understanding (MOU) made with a private racing company for the night street race, complying with the court's order.

The AG has also submitted that 80 percent of the work to conduct the night street race has completed, ticket sales also have commenced. Due to the damages caused by the Michaung cyclone the race has been postponed to December 15 and 16, said the AG.

After the submission the bench posted the matter to December 11 for further hearing.

A batch of petitions filed before the MHC seeking to stop the Formula 4 night street race as it puts the general public's safety at stake.

The high-speed cars, to be used in the racing event can clock 220 Kmph and can cause noise up to 120 decibels, which would easily result in several complications for the patients housed in the Multi Super Speciality Government Hospital at the Omandurar Government Estate that is situated within 50 m from the Sivananda Salai-Anna Salai junction, the petitioners submitted.

Further, the petitioners wondered that the State is already facing financial deficit and various public welfare schemes are awaiting, the state is spending more than Rs.42 crores to conduct the privileged race.

After the submission the bench instructed the State to submit the MOU made with the private company, which is handling the night street race.