The 3-day historic Sankri Devta mela today concluded here in block Panchari of district Udhampur.The mela witnessed an overwhelming participation of over 70,000 devotees, who thronged the site from different areas of the state to pay obeisance and get blessings of revered deity for overall peace and prosperity.Member Legislative Assembly, Chenani, Dina Nath Bhagat was the Chief guest whereas District Development Commissioner, Udhampur Ravinder Kumar was the Guest of Honour while Member of MHRD Minority Committee, Pawan Sharma and Commandant IRP 17th Battalian, Benam Tosh, were the special guests on the concluding day of the mela.During the three days of the mela, Youth Services and Sports Department organized rural sports competitions during the mela. The main attraction of the mela was the cultural programmes in which the students of various educational institutions and folk artists belonging to surrounding areas presented traditional Kud dance depicting rich Dogra culture.For the successful culmination of the mela, the district administration of Udhampur had made elaborated arrangements of security, drinking water and power supply, medicare, traffic regulation, additional bus services and stock of commodities. Various awareness stalls were also set up by several departments with an aim to create awareness among the rural populace.
Speaking on the occasion, the DDC said that the local festivals are playing a significant role in spreading awareness among the masses, regarding the beneficial schemes launched by the Central and the State government, for their socio economic upliftment besides preserving and promoting the priceless multifaceted cultural heritage.He exhorted upon the people to come forward and avail the benefits of these welfare schemes designed to meet their aspirations.The DDC congratulated the local mela committee members as well as the teams of district officers and people of the area parents for successful culmination of this mela.The dignitaries appreciated the efforts of organizers for holding such type of local fairs in far flung areas of the district. They said that the real and core essence of such festivals remains the cultural and traditional values that have been passed from one generation to another and an event like this is an attempt to keep it alive for our present and future generation.Later, the DDC also administered a Swachhta pledge to all the dignitaries as well as the participants on the occasion.Among others, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Krishan Lal, Ex- MLC, Jugal Kishore and other district and sectoral officers of various departments besides large number of prominent citizen were present on the occasion.