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Pomp and gaiety mark Holi

Correspondent

Police personnel are deployed in every nook and cranny to maintain law and order

Child Reporters playing ‘Holi’ in Koraput.

CUTTACK: The festival of colours—Holi was celebrated with pomp and gaiety all over the district, including the Millennium city of Cuttack without any untoward incident reported from anywhere. “The festival went off peacefully and people in large numbers observed it with fun and merrymaking”, said the city DCP S.K. Priyadarshi.

At least 14 platoons of armed force were deployed in the city to maintain law and order. Each lane and by-lane, including the busy marketplaces and squares had khaki-clad cops keeping an eye on the revellers. This was probably the reason why many girls and women in groups came out to the streets to play the game of colours.

Breaking of Dahi Mutka, a feature associated mainly in Mumbai and Meerut on the day of Holi was seen on the streets of Cuttack in large numbers and youths participated in it with great enthusiasm. People were seen smeared with all hues of colours and enjoying the occasion till 2 pm. They were all on the streets with their stock of colours since morning and were seen dancing and singing to the latest numbers.

Jail inmates

According to reports, the inmates of Choudwar jail also celebrated the festival as the jail authorities allowed them to play the game of colours. Eminent citizens, literary persons and celebrities observed the Basant Utsav in the city. The college students also enjoyed the festival of Holi in their respective hostels and campuses.

Politicians

The political leaders preferred to celebrate the Holi in the slum areas to woo the voters keeping an eye to the ensuing elections in near future.

However, the festive mood in the city was marred in the evening as at least eight persons from nearby Jagatsinghpur district were admitted to the SCB Medical College and hospital here in serious condition after savoring “todi’, a brew from date tree. Hospital sources later however, indicated that all the victims are out of danger.

PTI reports

Bhubaneswar: A large number of foreign tourists today mingled with local people and celebrated the festival of colour, official sources said.

“It is a great festival, which is unique in the entire world,” says, 17-year-old Shara, a woman tourist from France, while applying colour on face of her freind Laila (25) from Italy. They have been on a visit to the State met each other at a hotel in Puri.

Shara was not the lone foreigner, a number of them were seen playing Holi on streets of Puri and Bhubaneswar.

Shows interest

According to Rabi Jena, owner of hotel in Puri, the foreigners showed great interest in Holi and asked the hotel management to organise the festival.

“They exchanged colour with one another and also the local people while enjoying the festival”, said Jena adding that none of them faced any difficulties in Puri.

According to Orissa Tourism Department Director Rabi Narayan Nanda, nearly 150 foreigners today played Holi in Puri while the number was nearly 50 in the State capital.

“I enjoyed the festival and found people drinking ‘bhang’ and dancing to the tune of ‘dhol’ while celebrating Holi. I could not resist myself,” adds 19-year-old Jahnavi, a Swis national.

KORAPUT: It was a different a holi for the child reporters of Koraput, when apart from celebrating the festival among themselves by getting together at one place, they had the opportunity to spread the message of playing a safer holi with the use of safe colours to the masses.

Emphasizing on the need of usage of organic colours, Sarat Kumar Pattnaik, Secretary of the People’s Group for Children’s Development (PGCD) explained the children on the safe ways and methods of playing holi without causing injuries to the sensitive parts of the body like eyes and ears.

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