- The theme of the festival is ‘Gandhi Bridge to Atal Bridge’, which seeks to highlight the recently-opened foot over-bridge in the city that is named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
- The CM said that along with different amusement activities, blood donation camps will be organised on all seven days of the carnival.
- On the occasion, Patel also virtually launched “Panchmahotsav” being organised at Pavagadh in Panchmahal district.
NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, DEC 25
Live: માનનીય મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી ભૂપેન્દ્રભાઈ પટેલના વરદ્ હસ્તે અમદાવાદ ખાતે કાંકરીયા કાર્નિવલ 2022 નું ઉદ્ઘાટન https://t.co/dBml1Nn6NF
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) December 25, 2022
Amidst the spectre of COVID spraed, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Sunday inaugurated the week-long ‘Kankaria Carnival’, an annual event organised by Ahmedabad civic body at the redeveloped lakefront in the city.
‘આઝાદીના અમૃત મહોત્સવ’ થીમ પર આયોજિત કાંકરિયા કાર્નિવલના ઉદઘાટન સમારોહ પ્રસંગે અમદાવાદના ગૌરવવંતા ઈતિહાસને ઉજાગર કરતા ‘દાંડી બ્રીજથી અટલ બ્રીજ’ સાંસ્કૃતિક કાર્યક્રમને મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રીએ વિશાળ સંખ્યામાં ઉપસ્થિત નગરજનોની સાથે બેસીને માણ્યો હતો. pic.twitter.com/EiN0Ohdh43
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) December 25, 2022
The festival is being held after a coronavirus-induced gap of two years.
The festival will have various cultural programmes, laser beam show, yoga-aerobics, food festival, horse and dog shows in addition to adventure activities for children. It will conclude on December 31, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said in a press release.
મુખ્યમંત્રી શ્રી ભુપેન્દ્ર પટેલ આજે અમદાવાદના સરદારધામ સંકુલ ખાતે આયોજિત સ્નેહમિલન અને સન્માન સમારોહમાં ઉપસ્થિત રહ્યા હતા. આ અવસરે મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રીના વરદ હસ્તે સરદારધામ સંકુલ ખાતે ગર્લ્સ હોસ્ટેલ ફેઝ-2 ના નિર્માણ માટે યોગદાન આપનાર દાતાઓનું સન્માન કરવામાં આવ્યું હતું. pic.twitter.com/QULlAnUZe8
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) December 25, 2022
The organisers distributed face masks to the visitors and applied sanitisers as the festival comes at a time when another wave of COVID-19 pandemic looms over the country. The event was cancelled in 2021 due to the Omicron scare. In 2020, it was cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રીએ જણાવ્યું હતું કે, રાજ્ય સરકારે સુશાસનને કાર્યસંસ્કૃતિમાં ઉતારીને કોઈ પણ નાગરિકને તકલીફ ના પડે તેવી સુશાસનિક વ્યવસ્થાઓનું નિર્માણ કર્યું છે. વડાપ્રધાનશ્રીના વિકસિત ભારતના સંકલ્પને સાકાર કરવા ગુજરાતને વિકસિત રાજ્ય બનાવવાની દિશામાં સરકાર મક્કમ કદમે આગળ વધી રહી છે. pic.twitter.com/wYA52jf63I
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) December 25, 2022
Speaking at the inauguration, CM Patel said that former chief minister and Prime Minister Narendra Modi provided an outstanding example of good governance by changing the face of Kankaria lake and developing citizen-centric services in Ahmedabad.
Ahmedabad has many memories related to the freedom struggle, with Mahatma Gandhi setting up his Sabarmati Ashram and launching the Dandi march, he said, adding that the city also has a modern outlook.
આ પ્રસંગે મુખ્યમંત્રીશ્રીના વરદ્ હસ્તે વર્ષ 2017-18 તથા વર્ષ 2018-19 માં શ્રેષ્ઠ કામગીરી કરનારા જિલ્લા કલેક્ટરો તથા જિલ્લા વિકાસ અધિકારીઓને એવોર્ડ આપી સન્માનિત કરવામાં આવ્યા હતા તેમજ રાજ્યમાં સુશાસનની દિશામાં કરાયેલી શ્રેષ્ઠ કામગીરીઓ અંગેના પુસ્તકનું વિમોચન પણ કરાયું હતું. pic.twitter.com/3ep9cs1yKb
— CMO Gujarat (@CMOGuj) December 25, 2022
The theme of the festival is ‘Gandhi Bridge to Atal Bridge’, which seeks to highlight the recently-opened foot over-bridge in the city that is named after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
The CM said that along with different amusement activities, blood donation camps will be organised on all seven days of the carnival.
On the occasion, Patel also launched “Panchmahotsav” being organised at Pavagadh in Panchmahal district.
“How Gujarat has assimilated modernity can be seen in the Kankaria Carnival. At the same time, the splendour of Gujarat’s cultural richness and traditional Lok Mela can be seen in the Pavagadh Panchamotsav,” he said.
Churches, buildings lit up for Christmas; people greet each other
Members of the Christian community offered prayers and attended midnight masses across Gujarat to celebrate the Christmas festival as churches, malls and other buildings were illuminated with colourful lights to mark the celebration.
A large number of people came out to greet each other and many visited the homes of their relatives and friends and exchanged gifts as part of the celebrations which began late Saturday night and continued on Sunday.
People wearing new clothes, some even dressed up in winter attire due to a drop in temperatures in parts of the state, gathered in churches for the midnight masses.
Churches, malls, other buildings and houses were decorated with lights, colourful festoons and Christmas trees in Ahmedabad and other places.
Apart from Christians, people from other communities also took part in the celebrations at public places in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and other cities.
People dressed up as Santa Claus were seen greeting visitors at various malls, gardens and churches in some cities.
In 2020, the celebration was held in a subdued manner due to the COVID-19 pandemic and last year also, the viral infection threat loomed over the festival.
This time, people did not miss a chance to have a grand celebration.
There has been a surge in the COVID-19 cases in some countries.
