Uttarakhand’s two-day annual spring festival Vasantotsav will start on March 13 in Raj Bhawan premises. The governor Baby Rani Maurya said that the Vasantotsav is being organised regularly since the year 2003 in the state except for last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to her, floriculture business of about Rs 250 crore is done in Uttarakhand every year and through this festival, more of the locals will certainly be motivated to adopt it as a mode of income. A total of nine contests would be conducted in the festival that mainly falls under the category of cut flower contest, hanging pots contest, on the spot photography contest, school children painting contest and cactus and succulent contest. She further added that the concept of the vertical garden will also be introduced in the festival to promote flower production in urban areas. Besides this, the governor will also unveil a special postal cover of the honey bee which is found in the Himalayan region of Uttarakhand. A stamp exhibition will also be a part of the event. Further, in order to promote the idea that flowers can be used in the production of edible products too, edible flowers like Rose, Rhododendron and Hibiscus will be part of the exhibition, said Maurya. The edible products prepared from such flowers will also be presented at the event.
Also, a special product from each district will also be a part of the event under the One District One Product (ODOP) programme, informed Maurya. She also added that Raj Bhawan would also organise a special exhibition for differently-abled and underprivileged children on Friday. These children would participate in the painting contest too.
Meanwhile, the governor said that she has directed the horticulture department to conduct a fruit festival to promote various fruits found in various parts of Uttarakhand that mainly include apples and Litchis. According to the horticulture department, they would organise the fruit festival during the months of August and September. Further, Maurya informed that all the precautionary measures would be taken in the spring festival in view of Covid-19. According to her, about 30 departments will participate in this two-day festival that mainly include the horticulture department, meteorological department and the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD).
Friday, 12 March 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
