IMA wins the running trophy at Spring Festival

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, March 1

The two-day spring festival “Vasantotsav 2015” being organised on the campus of Raj Bhavan here concluded this evening amid incessant rain.

Governor KK Paul gave away prizes to the winners of various categories of the flower exhibition, rangoli, children’s painting and photo competitions. There were 120 winners and the IMA, Dehradun, won the running trophy.

The Governor congratulated the winners and said the success of the event was the result of the policies of the state government and the hard work of flower growers.

He expressed happiness at the positive response given by Chief Minister Harish Rawat to his idea of associating neighbouring states like Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh with the festival to create a competitive environment. He said by encouraging floriculture, Uttarakhand could be projected as a land of flowers.

The Governor said some prestigious institutions and flower growers could be requested to help in maintaining the beauty of public places, crossroads, parks, bus stops, railway station and the bus terminal in the city. If flowers were displayed, people would become interested in flowers and also make the city beautiful. He said despite an inclement weather the arrival of a large number of people at the festival showed their interest in flowers and plants.

The Chief Minister said the festival on the suggestion of the Governor would now be held for three days and floriculture competitions would be organised in some cities of the state. A Governor’s Trophy would be instituted. Calendars would be printed on which the names of the winners would be published in order to inspire other people.

Harish Rawat said flowers grown in the plains as well as hill areas of Uttarakhand could be exported throughout the year. Efforts were being constantly made to ensure regular supply of flowers to the flower markets of Delhi and Mumbai. He said this would strengthen the state’s economy. Commercial training by experts from Pune and Bengaluru would help local floriculturists, he added.

Agriculture and Horticulture Minister Harak Singh Rawat said tea cultivation was being done on 1,000 hectares in the state and in the sphere of silk production Uttarakhand was moving ahead of Himachal Pradesh. The culture department presented a programme after the prize distribution.

Earlier, the two-day flower show was inaugurated by Governor KK Paul amid playing of traditional musical instruments by local artistes yesterday.

The Governor released the first cover of ‘shank pushpi’, a herb found in the Himalayas and coveted for its medicinal qualities.

The Governor urged the Department of Horticulture and Food Processing, which organises the show every year to promote floriculture, to invite neighbouring Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and other Himalayan states to participate in the show. He urged flower entrepreneurs to take to floriculture in a big way so that the state emerges number one flower producer in the country.

The show stealer this year were the brightly coloured gerbera flowers in the cut flower category. A regular participant, Balbir Pundir from Nainital, had added white hues to his collection of gerberas this time along with magenta coloured carnations and red roses.

The philately stalls put up at the Circuit House too attracted attention, with Paul lending his collection of 2,000 stamps for the exhibition. As the Governor mentioned in his note put up at the exhibition, he picked up this hobby while still in school as his father had several acquaintances who regularly corresponded with him through letters. The other highlights were judo exploits by ITBP jawans and yoga by Louise, who had come from California, USA. Around 500 children also participated in an art competition.