Noida RWAs cancel Holi events amid coronavirus scare

Public gatherings to celebrate Holi are being cancelled across Noida and Greater Noida amid coronavirus scare in the region, resident welfare associations (RWAs) said on Thursday.

The Associations have cancelled scheduled programmes, joint lunches and celebration events like rain dance that was expected to be attended by thousands across Noida, Greater Noida and Greater Noida (West), alias Noida Extension.

"We have cancelled Kavi Sammelan (poetic symposium) and Holi Milan (Holi gathering) programmes scheduled for March 7. This has been done based on recommendations from health care experts who have suggested that mass gatherings should be avoided," said K K Jain, general secretary of the Federation of Noida RWAs (FONRWA).

Jain said 110 RWAs are attached with the FONRWA at present and around 5,000 people were expected to attend the programme.

Rajeev Singh, president of the Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Association (NOFAA), said they too have cancelled major Holi celebration programmes as people got more worried about the coronavirus.

"Earlier it was a wait and watch situation but eventually we had to cancel events. We had planned rain dance, water-filled rubber pools for exciting celebration of the festival. There was also a joint lunch planned for our members but all that stands cancelled now," Singh told PTI.

He said the NOFAA has 71 apartment owners association as its members and each society has an average of 200-250 flats.

"On a conservative estimate, we have over 50,000 people that are members of the NOFAA and we were expecting a huge gathering. But people are increasingly growing worried about the coronavirus outbreak and we have respected their feelings and decided not to hold these events," Singh added.

In Greater Noida (West), the Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA) announced the cancellation of a mass gathering it had planned to celebrate Holi.

"As a responsible association, we have decided to cancel the events for which we worked hard. But since it is not advisable for people to gather at one place due to the coronavirus, we have decided to cancel it as of now," said Abhishek Kumar of NEFOWA, which has around 50,000 members.

So far nobody has tested positive for the COVID 19 in Noida but samples of at least 55 people were sent for examination till Wednesday. These samples included three children and three adults who had come in contact with an infected man based in Delhi who has tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration on Thursday also clarified that no orders were issued for closing down schools and appealed to the people to not panic.

A man from neighbouring Ghaziabad with a recent travel history to Iran has also tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the total number of such cases in the country to 30 as the government on Thursday asked states to form rapid response teams at district, block and village levels.