Flood-hit area turns festival ground

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Guwahati, Jan 4 (UNI) If the harsh monsoon tale of this locale is fraught with haunting cronicles of flood and erosion, winter is equally bountiful with Desang and Brahmaputra rivers at Desangmukh in Asom playing host to the four-day Desang Festival, which began on the New Year.

The banks have turned into a festival ground for the second consecutive year with the organisers planning to turn it into an annual affair and targeting to add it to the country's tourist map at the earliest.

Festival Project Director Prabhat Konwar informed over telephone that the festival had registered over 70,000 visitors during the first three days. ''We expect many more today as it is the last day of the festival,'' he added.

The festival, a state government initiative, has served the double purpose of providing exhibition-cum-sale platform for the Self Help Groups (SHGs) of the state and a meeting ground for ethnic groups.

Mr Konwar said, ''The local Mising tribe and Nepali people are participating in the festival. Other tribes such as Deouri and tea tribes have also participated.'' A Naga village in the Sivasagar district has also joined the festival, besides other participants showcasing traditional Assamese dance and song forms for the tourists.

Mr Konwar said while a fashion show, showcasing bridal wear of different states, was a major crowd puller on the second day, a musical night, featuring top singers of the state, will be the special attraction of the festival on the last day.

He said local people made a beeline to the festival grounds with tourists from other parts of the country as well as North Eastern states attending it. ''Foreign tourists were also seen during the festival,'' he added.

Mr Konwar informed that all the nine development blocks of the district have been represented and were assigned to host cultural functions through the four days.

The festival organisers are eyeing a place on the country's tourist map and making arrangements to meet the necessary guidelines, like hosting it on the same date annually, proper transportation and lodging facilities.