Journalism of Courage
World Culture Festival, organised by the Art of Living Foundation headed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar kicked off on Friday despite a threatening rain and hall storm in Delhi. The event that features artists from across the world saw the attendance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several other leaders. The event will continue for two more days to end on Sunday. The event is taking place in the shadow of a raging controversy over the alleged flouting of environmental rules on the banks of the Yamuna river (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the three-day ‘World Culture Festival’ on Friday evening. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
PM Modi heaped praise on spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Art of Living foundation for holding the event. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Sri Sri also responded to criticism surrounding the event saying that the event was indeed a private affair, as quoted by a few, as the whole world is his family. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Addressing the massive gathering at the World Culture Festival, PM Narendra Modi said, "If we keep criticising ourselves, why would the world look at us?" (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
World Culture Festival plans to bring together people of talent, eminence and repute in which 3.5 million people are expected to participate. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Dignitaries and the spiritual and religious leaders from around the globe shared the stage with PM Narendra Modi at the World Culture Festival. (Source: Express photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Artists on stage have been given polythene sheets to cover themselves. Kids rehearsing on stage amid the drizzle. People who’ve come to watch are using their chairs to keep themselves from getting soaked.
The extravagant event hosted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living, the World Culture Festival (WCF) will witness the world’s largest stage, set up over an area of seven acres, which equals about six FIFA grounds. This will be an attempt to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the ‘Largest temporary stage’ in the world.(Source: Express Photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Live Updates of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival
People sitting over the planks cover themselves with plastic from the rain before the start of the Art of Living World cultural festival. (Source: Express Photo by Ravi Kanojia)
People start to arrive at the venue where the World Culture Festival, organized by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation, commences from today (March 11). (Source: Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
Foreign delegates arrive at the World Culture Festival site on the opening day. The Festival organized by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation will be hosting foreign nationals from over 152 countries. (Source: Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
Foreign delegates rehearse before the start of the Art of Living World cultural festival in Delhi on March 11. (Source: Express Photo by Ravi Kanojia)
Security personnels take charge at the World cultural Festival site on its opening day. (Source: Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
Saints arrive before the start of the Art of Living World cultural festival. (Source: Express Photo by Ravi Kanojia)
In 2016, the Art of Living completes 35 years of service to humanity. To commemorate this momentous occasion, the World Culture Festival is being organized from 11 to 13, March 2016 in New Delhi on the Yamuna floodplains.
(Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
Live Updates of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's World Culture Festival
The mega event has been at the centre of many controversies, with alarming concerns from environment activist, the National Green Tribunal as well as the Opposition. However, addressing concerns of the WCF’s impact on Yamuna’s ecosystem, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has repeatedly promised to take care of the river during the festival. “The Kumbh Mela is being held at the banks of the Ganga since aeons, but that didn’t make the Ganga impure. Likewise, the purity of the banks of Yamuna will not be compromised on our part. There is no chance, not the slightest chance of polluting the river, or its bank. We will not leave behind any garbage,” he said at a press conference. (Source: Express photo)
Read 25,000-strong force for three-ring security layer
According to the art of Living's advertisements, the WFC will host 3.5 million people, 33,000 artistes, 155 countries, 40 instruments and all on the banks of one holy river, Yamuna.
In what promises to be a grand spectacle, the World Culture Festival 2016 builds on the premise of Vasudheva Kutumbakam, the whole world is one family, wherein people can co-exist despite differences. The festival aims to provide a single platform for religious leaders, businessmen and politicians to come together and renew their vision to work for the welfare of the society, while encouraging traditional musicians. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
Read World Culture Festival starts today; Stage unsafe CPWD to Delhi Police
On Tuesday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) questioned governments at the Centre, Delhi and UP about various clearances for the World Culture Festival. After hearing submissions from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Ministry of Water Resources, the UP and Delhi governments, DDA and petitioners, Manoj Mishra and Anand Arya, the NGT sought an affidavit from the two union ministries. It will hear the matter again on Wednesday. The ministry had earlier told the bench that its team visited the venue and found no debris, as alleged.(Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
According to the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification 2006, no clearance for temporary structures was required.The bench asked DDA how permission was granted for two pontoon bridges being constructed for the event. While the UP government said its permission was relevant only during floods, the DDA said it was only required to give AOL a no-objection certificate. DDA stated that permission for the event was granted on the basis that no permanent structures would be constructed. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
The Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar on Thursday however, sounded defiant saying he would rather go to jail than pay the fine imposed on his organisation by the NGT. “We have not done anything wrong. We have been taintless and will remain so. We we will go to jail but not pay a penny,” said Ravi Shankar. He also tweeted that AOL was not “satisfied” with the verdict of the NGT and would appeal against it. He urged political parties not to “politicise” the event. He also denied that any tree at the venue was felled and claimed that the trees had only been pruned and all they had done was level the floodplain.(Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
Amid ragging concerns, the NGT on Wednesday gave its go ahead to the event to be held on the Yamuna banks, expressing its helplessness in banning it because of “fait accompli”. Nevertheless, it imposed a fine of Rs five crore on AOL as environmental compensation after coming down heavily on the foundation for not disclosing its full plans. The green bench also criticised the DDA and Environment Ministry for their role. (Source: Express photo by Nidhi Rana)
The concerns are not just restricted to environmental causes. The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has written to Delhi Police that the stage of the World Culture Festival is unsafe. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with many foreign dignitaries, is set to attend the opening function on Friday evening.
In a March 9 letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the Prime Minister’s security, CPWD listed four counts on which the supporting structure of the stage failed to meet standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). The red flags listed in the letter are: no preparation/compaction for creating levelled and firm ground for supporting the structure; inadequate size of base plates resulting in excessive soil-bearing pressure; non-staggering of splice joints creating weak links at same level; use of corroded and worn out pipes. (Source: Express photo by Nidhi Rana)
The mega event has also affected the farmers of the land, where the gala event is being organised. The pradhan of farmers in the area said land of about 80 people had been affected. “They have bulldozed the whole area. There is police with them,” said Pradhan Subedar Singh Yadav. Many farmers allege that their farms have been destroyed by bulldozers and water supply to the farms has ben cut. The contractors argue that water will create muck and the vehicular movement will be in trouble. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
In the wake of controversies triggered by concerns over environmental violations, President Pranab Mukherjee pulled out of the valedictory function on Saturday and there was no official word on whether Modi will participate. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe, who was one of the invitees, has also pulled out of the event. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
For the WCF, a monumental stage sprawled over 7 acres has been erected in keeping with the massive preparations at the venue, reportedly spread over 1,000 acres. An ornate gate right on the DND Flyway will lead top delegates to the venue, whereas 12 other entry points, several of them marked by LED screens for a spillover crowd, are being propped up. Plush white sofas for VIP delegates and metal frame chairs for the rest of the audience were brought in and laid out on Tuesday, while more than 1,000 workers toil on the imposing main stage, erecting meticulously crafted canopies. White cloth canopies dot the sprawling audience galleries for volunteers to be stationed during the event. A large stall for the sale of items from Sri Sri Ayurveda and Publications has been erected next to the parking lot, while separate enclosures for police deployment have propped up at entry-exit points.(Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
With the three entrances to the venue from the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) flyway barred for the public, a steady stream of buses made their way to the floodplains from another entry point next to the Mayur Vihar Phase 1 Metro station. From here, a 5-km dirt track, cutting through contract farmland led to the venue. Watching the bulldozers, cars, motorcycles, buses and dump trucks going past were residents of at least unauthorised five hamlets on the way. “There’s some big function happening and big people are coming. They bulldozed through my farmland to make this track. They took away someone else’s land for two weeks to park their cars,” said Kishen, from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh, who has tilled land here for the last six years. The Yamuna itself is a barrier of sorts for the vehicles. From the Noida Link road entrances, this is as far as one can drive. It’s another 2-km trek over pontoon bridges set up by the Army, through a baggage scanner, past washrooms and tents for the 10,000 artists to get to stage.(Source: Express photo by Amit Mehra)
The stage is 1,200 feet long, 200 feet wide and 40 feet high. It dwarfs all around it, including life-sized elephant statues being assembled with telescopic cranes. There are even e-rickshaws hired daily to ferry musicians and artistes from one end of the venue to another. In the middle of the stage, supervisors categorise and group the artistes according to the states they come from. At either end, workers are racing to complete the installation of the statues and arches.
The Delhi Police has warned of “stampede”, “pandemonium” and “utter chaos” unless shortcomings in the arena are attended to immediately. It warned of the possibility of “pandemonium which is bound to result in utter chaos leading to total breakdown of law and order”. The inspection team also observed that the organisers had initially promised seven pontoon bridges on the Yamuna. (Source: Express photo by Oinam Anand)
The Army was requested to build the pontoons at the site of the event. Howver, the Army in deployment of pontoons for WCF on request of the Delhi government, the Defence Ministry is now dealing with the question of ‘who pays for the expenses incurred by the Army’ in cases where assistance is extended to non-government entities such as Art of Living Foundation. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has directed the ministry’s officials to look into procedures that define how organisations can be billed for services extended by the Army, as in this case. As per guidelines, under Aid to Civil Authorities, the Army can be requisitioned for five heads —assistance for maintenance of law and order, maintenance of essential services, assistance in natural calamities, development of projects and other type of assistance. The official said in present case, the request was processed under the “other type of assistance” head.(Source: Express photo by Amit Mehra)
Environmentalists say such an event can cause permanent and irreparable damage to the river ecosystem in the affected area. One of the important functions of the floodplains is groundwater recharge. In the process of flattening, the surface has been hardened, and that severely impacts its groundwater recharge capability. The work at the site has also changed the natural gradient of the floodplain, which can diminish its flood-carrying capacity. Small water bodies and wetlands have been filled up. The extent of the likely damage is yet to be assessed. A committee appointed by the NGT did make a site visit, and recorded its observations in a report to the court. But it was based on just a three-hour inspection, and not a proper scientific assessment. The committee observed that the site had been “cleared of all natural vegetation”, “raised with the help of JCBs” and “huge amount of debris and construction waste” had been dumped into the main channel of the Yamuna. It said the activity could in no way be described as “benign”, and would have a “permanent footprint on the floodplain”. (Source: Express photo by Amit Mehra)
Depending on what the impacts are, the monetary costs of restoration can be very high. The NGT-appointed committee had estimated that between Rs 100 and Rs 120 crore might be required for the restoration. It had recommended that the organisers be asked to deposit this amount in a separate account ahead of the event. However, the organisation on Friday moved an application saying it needs four weeks time to deposit the amount and to comply with all tribunal directions. In the application, Art of Living said, “AOL says it is a charitable organisation and it is difficult for it to generate Rs 5 crore in a short period.” It further added that the Rs 5 crore fine be taken as restoration amount for biodiversity park and not as penalty. (Source: Express photo by Amit Mehra)
