With the high-powered committee headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah recently held in Bangalore gave directions on the 2014 Dasara celebrations in Mysore, and officials have begun the prepa- ratory planning for organising the 10-day Nada Habba. But, this year there’s no indication of an air show like that seen last year.
A preliminary meeting yesterday under chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner S Palaiah, who is also the Dasara Special Officer, discussed problems that had cropped in organising last year’s celebrations and overcoming them this time. The officials concerned were asked to begin preparations to make Dasara grand and attractive. They were also asked to make the tendering processes transparent and limit the total expenditure to Rs 10 crore sanctioned by the government as against Rs 12 crore sought.
It was also brought to light that some of the sub-committees had not submitted their last year’s accounts though this year Dasara is fast approaching. About Rs 9.5 crore was spent on the 2013 Dasara. The government had sanctioned only Rs 8 crore and an additional amount was being released to meet the shortage.
Palaiah informed that Kannada and Culture & Information Secretary Shalini Rajaneesh will convene a meeting in Bangalore shortly to chalk out for the first time a ‘disaster management plan’ to face any challenging situation during the celebrations.
He indicated that there may not be ‘air show’ during this Dasara. The date of departure of elephants from the forest to take part in the Dasara, ‘Gaja Payana’, will be decided in due course.
