The Hindon Mahotsav was celebrated from March 4 to 10 at Ramlila ground in Kavi Nagar. The city administration and Hindon Mahotsav Samiti, Ghaziabad organised the festival for the first time and lakhs of people witnessed the spectacular show. Through the week-long celebration, the city administration tried to create awareness on the need to conserve the only river of the city. The Mahotsav was inaugurated by Minister Raj Pal Tyagi along with district magistrate Hridesh Kumar and other administrative officers.
According to official sources, more than 50000 visitors attended the programmes per day from all across Delhi and NCR and they showed a rare enthusiasm to be a part of this mission. All the round-abouts across the city has been illuminated with fancy lights and major roads were given a facelift on the occasion. The city administration also roped in the Ghaziabad RWAs Federation for this cause so that the message could reach out to the people that it is their responsibility to keep the Hindon River clean. Saurabh Garg, an executive member RRWA says, “This is a positive effort on the part of the city administration to save this river from being polluted. In the second phase, the cleaning of Hindon River will see members of ‘Nigrani Daasta’ take pledge to keep the river clean by sensitising the residents. In the third phase, three sewage treatment plants will be set up along the river to keep it clean.”
The Mahotsav began with a marathon run for Hindon in which more than 700 residents, including youngsters participated. The week-long programme saw the participation of artists from different fields, including singer Pankaj Udhas, Daler Mehndi, stand up comedian Sudesh Lahiri and other folk singers.
Besides the cultural events, a flower show was also organised by the Ghaziabad RWAs Federation, which showcased rare variety of flowers. The flower show included exotic flowers from NTPC, GDA, Nagar Nigam, UP Awas Vikas and the Indian Nursery Men’s Association. Competitions were organised in the categories of cut flowers, bottle garden, tray garden, hanging garden, bonsais, landscaping, foliage arrangements, and artistic arrangement of flowers, potted plants, vegetables, and salad, etc.
Convener of the flower show Rama Tyagi brought out the fifth consecutive flower show in Ghaziabad organized by the RWAs Federation of Ghaziabad supported by the District Administration, GDA, Nagar Nigam and the Nursery Men’s Association. Rama Tyagi says, “The aim of the flower show was to bring awareness about the environment and also to develop harmony between the residents and the local administration.”
Other attractions were exhibition of art, handicrafts, lifestyle and consumer durable products. Around 300 craftsmen from all over India took part. Sports competitions, cultural and entertainment pro-grammes by national and local artists mesmerized the audiences present in the festival.
Ability Unlimited Foundation (AUF)’s performance at the Mahotsav would be remembered for long time as Ghaziabad residents witnessed the spinning speed of the wheel chairs faster than an accomplished ballet dancer’s spins as the moving speed of wheel chairs was 150-200 km/hr.
A replica of Hindon River was also prepared to make people realise its importance in the city. The compound got different types of food stalls besides stalls of herbal plants. There were different types of swings, which attracted the kids.
Sushma Jha, a resident from Vaishali says, “The district administration should organize more such events. I attended the event for three days and the performance of famous artist Kumar Shanu on the concluding day was enjoyed by all and sundry.”