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Administration responsible for mess: Organisers
HE CAME and left without anybody taking notice of his presence. Was this done as part of a strategy of the district administration or the organisers of the famous Dev Deepawali? As usual, there was an unprecedented crowd at the Ganga ghats to witness Dev Deepawali festival. Many organisations like Gangotri Sewa Samiti and Ganga Sewa Nighi organise the festival with pomp and show.
HE CAME and left without anybody taking notice of his presence. Was this done as part of a strategy of the district administration or the organisers of the famous Dev Deepawali?
As usual, there was an unprecedented crowd at the Ganga ghats to witness Dev Deepawali festival. Many organisations like Gangotri Sewa Samiti and Ganga Sewa Nighi organise the festival with pomp and show. Lakhs of people flock to Dashashwamedh and Rajinder Prasad ghats where these two organisations manage the programme.
Sources said as list of VIPs attending the festival had already been finalised, an `unexpected message’ about the presence of UP Governor TV Rajeswar was flashed by the district administration to Ganga Sewa Nidhi. “We have finalised everything including the name of the chief guest Air Marshal PV Naik,” sources close to the organisers said.
Sources further said, “The district administration mounted pressure stating that the specially decorated diyas on water be removed when the Governor arrives.”There was inordinate delay in the beginning of Maha Aarti due to Governor’s arrival. He was not at all invited and rather expressed his desire to witness Dev Deepawali celebration since he was in town.
Surprisingly, head of Ganga Sewa Nidhi Satinder Mishra was seen weeping bitterly while the show was going on. His grievance was that top district officers resorted to blackmailing him in the name of Governor.
“We were told that in case they do not follow what we order, their programme will not be allowed to proceed,” according to a senior tourist officer who was witness to the altercation between the Dev Deepawali organisers and the district administration.
This dictatorial attitude of the administration seems to have been the main reason which forced the organisers to ignore presence of the Governor who arrived in a boat with a large number of officials.
Interestingly, the Governor along with his wife left the venue and even was not invited to the main dais. “He is not our guest as we have not invited him. He is welcome like are lakhs of people,” Satinder Mishra told reporters at the venue.
“This was very insulting. As a common man, I could realise that some thing has gone wrong in the beautifully organised Dev Deepawali,” a devotee said. But the organisers said the district administration was responsible for the mess.
