Dindigul: In a bid to expand the scope of annual 'Kodai festival', the district administration has made it more than a flower show and carnivals this year. By involving the local people in the various events related to the fest, the administration hopes to promote water conservation and environment protection among several lakh tourists visiting the Kodaikannal hills.
Though the main festival will held between May 20 and May 29, the district collector T N Vinay has organised preliminary events like sketching competition for children, photography and trekking competitions in the last five days. "We want the residences of Kodaikanal to be part of this celebration," said S Vineeth, sub-collector, Palani, who is actively involved in organising the festival.
The authorities also launched a special logo named 'Kodai Fest' and a website -www.koditourism.in- which provides information about the various events, history of Kodaikanal and a photo gallery featuring the tourist spots. The participants to the events can register online in this web portal.
"Though the government is organising this event, we like to be a facilitator this year and encourage various stakeholders including farmers, tribal people, NGOs and industrialists to take part in the festival," said Vineeth.
The administration would provide space for farmers to showcase their farm products cultivated in the hills and for industrialists to involve in promoting the message of 'Swachh Bharat Mission' as part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives, he said, adding, many banks have expressed their interest to participate in the festival. The district administration has also decided to organize a special medical camp for the native tribes of the hills on May 26.
Meanwhile, the Horticulture department has been making arrangements to display 56 varieties of flowers including star phlox, petunia, dianthus, zinnia, aster, antirrhinum gazania, pansy, marigold among other flowers to be displayed during the flower show at Bryant's park. "We have also grown1.5 lakh plants for the last few months in the park for the festival," said M S Mohan Ram, deputy director of Horticulture department, Kodaikanal.
The flowers and gardening competition would also be organised in the park for which participants from various places would take part. Various government departments would organize the exhibition, he added.
