A grand inauguration of refurbished Connaught Place besides a series of events such as shopping carnival and food festival will mark the centenary celebrations of NDMC,beginning from Monday. After missing several deadlines,New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) will finally be inaugurating the renovated Connaught Place on December 30. "Besides showcasing a refurbished Connaught Place,one of the country's premier shopping centres,there will be something or the other for everyone,of all age groups," said NDMC Chairperson Jalaj Shrivastava. Events including a shopping carnival,food festival and a concert will keep the heart of the city busy and happening. NDMC along with the New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA) will hold a two-week long shopping festival starting from tomorrow. "There will be bumper offers and attractive discounts," Srivastava said. A film festival will be held till December 27 at the NDMC Convention Centre,the NDMC chairperson said,adding,a food festival is also being organised from December 23 to 29 which will bring cuisines from across the country under one roof. Other events include a nomadic fair from December 23 to 29,vintage car rally on December 29 which will be followed by a kite festival two days later. There will be a musical event by "Ability Unlimited" and "Chand Nizami" on January 2 and 3. Connaught Place's inauguration is most likely to be celebrated with performances by renowned singers and artistes. According to an NDMC official,talks are on to rope in sufi singer Kailash Kher for the event. The Connaught Place redevelopment project,which has missed several deadlines till now,is almost complete with minor works such as cabling and some basic maintenance related to façade which will be completed in the next few days. Even though the civic agency says that it has taken over the work from Engineers India Limited (EIL),consultant for the project,some officials claim that the company is still finishing the last cabling work in the area. NDMC had also recently floated tenders to hire a housekeeping firm for CP. The Chief Guest for the event is not yet finalised. "We are planning to call Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jang as the Chief Guest on December 30,an NDMC official said. The civic body is also undecided on whether to invite AAP MLAs Arvind Kejriwal and Suriender Singh,who have replaced Shiela Dikhsit and Karan Singh Tanwar as council members after winning the New Delhi constituency and the Delhi Cantt seat respectively. The NDMC had written to the Home Ministry to notify the new members after the results came out but there has been no reply from the ministry yet. The centenary celebrations are being organised by NDMC in association with Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC) and NDTA.
