Thousands throng ' Park Utsav' in Bhubaneswar braving bad weather

Bhubaneswar, Feb 9: Braving inclement weather after overnight downpour, over thousands of people thronged to major parks in the capital city to participate in the second episode of Park Utsav held today.  The event was organised by Bhubaneswar Development Authority (BDA) at Buddha Jayanti Park and Biju Patnaik Park simultaneously from 7 am to 9 am.   {"id":26184,"sizeSlug":"large"} Around 3000 citizens of different age groups took part in the festival where various activities, including yoga, musical performance, painting, storytelling, awareness campaign on cleanliness and cultural programmes. Similarly, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) organised 'Mu Safaiwala' campaign and distributed cotton bags among visitors to spread awareness about health and environmental hazards of using plastic and polythene bags.                                             To motivate people to adopt a healthy lifestyle and disease-free life, a health camp was organised in the parks where several people, mostly senior citizens took advantage of the facility. {"id":26185,"sizeSlug":"large"} Besides, the visitors also filled up the 'Citizen Feedback Forms' as part of 'Ease of Living Index Assessment' conducted by the BMC on behalf of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to know the quality of life of its citizens in Smart City.                                 "Despite bad weather conditions good numbers of children and school students have attended the event today. This proves that the whole idea of organising Park Utsav has struck a right chord with one and all in the city," said a top official of BDA attending the event.                        The BDA and BMC had made elaborate arrangements for smooth conduct of the event.                   As part of the plan, next Park Utsav will be held at Mahatma Gandi and Kharavela Parks  on Feb 16 and BDA City Centre ( NICCO Park) and Madhusudan Das Park on Feb 23.  Similarly, the event will be held at Indira Gandhi Park and Buddha Jayanti Park on March 1, Biju Patnaik and Kharavela Parks on March 8.  The event will organized at BDA City Centre and Madhusudan Das Park on March 15.