COLOURFUL: A view of the Gadinadu Utsav 2006 procession in Belgaum on Sunday.

Belgaum: Heavy rain accompanied by gusty wind disrupted the procession of the weeklong Gadinadu Utsav 2006 here on Sunday.

While many participants ran for shelter halting the procession, a few activists of the Kannada Rakshana Vedike danced in the rain which otherwise brought respite to the people here from the scorching heat.

Heavy rain lashed the city and surrounding areas for more than an hour when the procession was proceeding towards Kaktives from Rani Channamma Circle. The gusty wind brought down several houses constructed under the Ashraya housing scheme at Mahantesh Nagar and several low-lying areas got inundated in the city. Many electric poles collapsed and branches of large number of trees came down crashing affecting traffic on Club Road, Hanuman Nagar Road, at Camp, Mahantesh Nagar, T.V. Centre, on Hindalga Road and at Vijayanagar.

The inaugural function of the Lakkundi Utsav in Gadag two days ago was also affected by rain. The rain forced Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to hasten through the inauguration.

Though the main pandal for the cultural events during the Gadinadu Utsav 2006 remained intact, other stalls tumbled owing to the gutsy wind. However, the weather was pleasant in the evening with the clouds moving away. Though the Chief Minister was to inaugurate the utsav at 5 p.m., it was delayed as he was behind schedule. Does the utsav lack vision? Many answer in the affirmative. Even some senior officials agree that the event lacks vision. The magnanimity, which this festival is expected to reflect, is explicitly missing. On the contrary, it reflects "narrowness" and lack of understanding of cultural facets of the border areas. There are grievances from linguistic minorities such as Marathi and Urdu-speaking communities which have been left out of the cultural festival being organised with the objective of cultural integration.

A senior official said that the manner in which the events had been slated showed that the district administration in general and the Kannada and Culture Department in particular had very little understanding of the culture of the land.

Another official said prominent writers and poets had been given little importance. That was the reason for their participation in the Gadinadu Utsav procession.

Also, the response to the procession was less than expected. Only a few cultural troupes joined the celebrations.

What added to the lack of enthusiasm was the absence of tableaux.

The procession was inaugurated by Suresh C. Angadi, MP, and Deputy Commissioner Shalini Rajneesh.

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