Nagpur News.
As the city gears up for the much touted agriculture exhibition Krishi Vasant, a national level agriculture fair-cum-exhibition, to be organized from February 9 to 13, the hotels here are flooded with the guests like never before. Just five days to go before the exhibition starts, the booking registers across various hotels are packed with the dates coinciding the event. Right from luxurious star rated accommodation to budget hotels in the city, there suddenly arose serious dearth of rooms. The district administration is facing the tough time booking rooms for the farmers and guests.
A source from Hotel Centre Point in Ramdaspeth told Nagpur Today that the dates are also coinciding with few marriage dates. “We already have guests booking for marriage parties and this agricultural exhibition has doubled up the guests staying at our premise. The shortage of rooms on these dates is going to be unprecedented as this is likely to be the largest farmer fair in the country,” he said.
Most of the upscale hotels on Wardha road are fully booked for the officials and political leaders arriving at the do.
When Nagpur Today contacted at Hotel Radisson Blu, an executive informed that not only during the said dates but there are brisk bookings throughout February, thanks to the ongoing wedding season.
Similar is the situation at Hotel Pride another plush hotel near airport. Owing to the proximity with the airport, this hotel had reaped rich bookings during the said period. “The corporates at Mumbai have shifted their business meet and other visits to next month as there is literally not a single room spared from booking, particularly on the dates of the event,” said an executive at Hotel Pride.
The district administration, which has been given the task of arranging for the accommodation of at least 60,000 farmers daily for the entire period of the expo, has already booked maximum number of ‘Mangal karyalayas’ ( marriage halls) that will be used as dormitories besides some other public places.
Of the Rs45 crore budget for the mega-fair, Rs 20 crore have been earmarked for lodging and boarding facilities for the visiting farmers. Some 400 officials would also be camping in the city for the fair and for them several city hotels and places like posh Surabardi resort have been booked, sources revealed.
On Monday, a special review meeting was convened in Mumbai and Rs 5 crore from the budgeted Rs 100 crore for Vasantrao Naik centenary celebrations were released for the farm expo that has been named Krishi Vasant in memory of the former chief minister. The organizers have also obtained clearance from the Election Commission which has set a condition that posters at the fair should not carry pictures of any political leader or slogans of any party, official sources added. This is in view of the Lok Sabha elections which could be held tentatively from mid-April.
Krishi Vasant is a multi-sectoral event in which agro industries, research institutes, union and state government organizations, farmer-producer organizations, KVKs, animal breeders, horticulturists, NGOs, students and academia are going to set up their exhibition/demonstrations.
Latest developments in all areas of agriculture including crop sciences and technologies, animal husbandry, dairy, fisheries, food processing, post-harvest activities and marketing will be on display in the fair.
