Connaught Place all set for its first community Diwali
NEW DELHI: Come Saturday and Connaught Place’s (CP’S) Central Park will see its first “community Diwali”, with laser shows, music performances and shopping stalls, all stitched together by the Delhi government.
The four-day event will open every evening from 6pm to 10pm and is part of the city government’s efforts to encourage people from bursting firecrackers and thereby help reduce air pollution. During these hours, CP’S inner circle will be closed for traffic, and may lead to congestion in certain areas, the traffic police has warned.
The primary attraction of the celebration will be a laser show that will also contribute to visual story telling, officials in Delhi’s tourism department said. They further said, there will be music events with performances by artistes including popular singers Javed Ali and Polash Sen.
There will be a shopping zone offering a wide variety of handicrafts from across the country, a large food court and lighting installations, the officials said. The programme, which will be inaugurated by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday, will be open for all. No tickets or passes are needed.
“Delhi is facing its annual spike in air pollution and, as a society, we need to make all efforts to keep our air clean. I appeal to the people of Delhi to refrain from bursting firecrackers this Diwali and attend the Dilli ki Diwali festival instead,”
the chief minister said on Friday.
The event is likely to cause traffic congestion in the area and so traffic restrictions will be imposed between 4pm and 11pm during the four days, said Delhi Traffic Police in an advisory.
“The inner circle will be closed for vehicles and entry till the parking lots located between Blocks C and F will be permitted only through Janpath, the State
Entry Road and from the vicinity of the Haldiram outlet. Alternate parking sides have also been created in Baba Kharak Singh and near Shivaji Stadium,” it said.
Meanwile, the New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA) on Friday raised security concerns ahead of the four-day event. They wrote to Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, asking him to restrict permission for assembly of crowds in open places like Central Park and provide adequate security arrangements in the area.
“We are apprehensive about the security aspect of the plan as entire Delhi is being invited by Delhi government. As a huge crowd is expected, there is a strong possibility of miscreants, eve teasers, pickpockets, chain snatchers and other anti-social elements taking advantage of the situation,” Atul Bhargava, President of NDTA said in the letter to Baijal.