NewZNew (Chandigarh) : The much awaited 44th Rose Festival started here at Rose Garden amid pump and show. The three days festival has been formally inaugurated by Smt. Kirron Kher, Member Parliament, UT, Chandigarh in presence of Smt. Iqbal Kaur Randhawa, Sh. Arun Sood, Mayor of Chandigarh, Sh. Anurag Aggarwal, IAS, Home Secretary and Sh. B. Purushartha, IAS, Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh.
Smt. Kavita Singh, IAS, MD, CITCO, Sh. Jatinder Yadav, IAS, Director Tourism, Chandigarh, Sh. Davesh Moudgil, Senior Deputy Mayor, Sh. Hardeep Singh, Deputy Mayor, Sh. Rajiv Gupta and Sh. Verinder Chaudhary, Joint Commissioners, Sh. Mukesh Anand, Chief Engineer, Sh. N.P. Sharma, S.E. (B&R), MC, other councilors, officers, prominent persons of Chandigarh were present during the inaugural ceremony. During the inauguration Sh. Budh Ram, Head Mali, Horticulture wing of MC was special guest.
While addressing the gathering, the Chief Guest Mrs. Kirron Kher appreciated the efforts done by all the MC employees and officers to make this festival a grand success. She said that it was her childhood wish that she would inaugurate the Rose Festival and it turned in to reality today by giving an opportunity as chief guest by the Municipal Corporation Chandigarh. She said that people from all walks of life can enjoy here with the provisions and competitions of all age groups would be organized such as Rose Prince & Princess, Mr. Rose & Ms. Rose and Rose King and Rose Queen for senior citizens.
While explaining about the programme the Mayor said that the festival has been dedicated to “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” and “Swachh Bharat Mission” and various competitions will be organized throughout all three days including Flower Competition, flower hat competition, Rose Quiz, Kite flying, on the spot painting etc.
During the inaugural ceremony the Municipal Corporation has honoured Sh. Arun Sood, Mayor of Chandigarh, former Mayors including Smt. Harjinder Kaur, Smt. Raj Bala Malik, MC Commissioner Sh. B. Purushartha, IAS, Sh. Davesh Moudgil, Senior Deputy Mayor, Sh. Hardeep Singh, Deputy Mayor, Sh. Rajesh Kumar Gupta, Smt. Asha Kumari Jaswal, Sh. Sat Parkash Aggarwal, Sh. Satish Kumar Kainth, Smt. Heera Negi, Smt. Rajinder Kaur Rattu, Sh. Desh Raj Gupta, Prof. Aruna Goel, Dr. Amrit Tewari, Sh. Babu Lal, Maj. D.S. Sandhu (Retd.), Sh. M.P. Kohli, Dr. Shagufta Parveen, councilors. In addition to that employees of MC, who rendered remarkable job during previous year have also been honoured.
Sh. B. Purushartha, IAS, Municipal Commissioner said that to make the festival live new activities have been added by creating food park inside Rose Garden to cater the visitors. Keeping in view the interests of general public and visitors, this time food park have been allowed inside the Rose Garden during festival, he added.
During the evening Hasya Kavi Sammelan was organized in the main stage of Rose Garden, in which famous poets of India including Padam Shree Ashok Chakardhar from New Delhi, Sh. Manvir Madhur from Mathura, Sh. Parmod Tiwari from Kanpur and Sh. Sudeep Bhola from Jabalpur, MP have enthralled the audience by their famous poems. Sh. M.P. Singh, IAS, Principal Secretary to the Governor of Punjab was the Chief Guest and Sh. Jagdish Lal Ahuja, who carried langar sewa outside PGI and Sabji Mandi from past 25 years was the Guest of Honour.
During the day event Folk dance competition was held and the result is as under:
Colleges category
1st Post Graduate Govt. College, Sector 11, Chandigarh (Boys).
2nd Govt. College, Sector 42, Chandigarh.
3rd Post Graduate Govt. College, Sector 46, Chandigarh
Schools Category
1st Govt. Model High School, Sector 56, Chandigarh
2nd Govt. High School, Dadu Majra, Chandigarh
3rd Govt. High Senior Secondary School, Sector 29-A, Chandigarh.
The programme schedule on all the 20th February will be as under:
Programmes Schedule for 20th February (Saturday)
9.00 a.m. Rose Prince & Princess competition
10.20 a.m. Photography Exhibition
10.35 a.m. Traditional Folk Dance
11.00 a.m. Kite Flying Competition
11.20 a.m. Traditional Folk Dance
11.30 a.m. Rose King & Rose Queen competition (Senior Citizen)
2.00 p.m. Roze Quiz
3.30 p.m. Programme by the Students of Blinds Society, Chandigarh
5.00 p.m. Classical Evening (Vocal) by:
Pandit Channu Lal Mishra, famous Indian Classical Maestro from Banaras