Bengaluru's annual groundnut fair to begin on November 17, will run for five days

Bengaluru: Kadlekai Parishe, Bengaluru’s own annual groundnut fair, will be held for five days this year, instead of the usual two days. 

The fair will begin on November 17 and will be celebrated on a grand scale, according to Minister for Muzrai Ramalinga Reddy, who held a meeting in this regard on Thursday. 

MLAs Ravi Subramanya (Basavanagudi) and Uday Garudachar (Chickpet),  members of the Karnataka Rajya Dharmik Parishath and other officials were present at the meeting. 

As per tradition, the inaugural ceremony will be held at the Sri Basavanna Temple in Basavanagudi at 10 am, with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in attendance. 

According to the Muzrai Department, Bull Temple Road, Gandhi Bazaar and NR Road will be decorated on all the five days.

Awareness campaigns will be held for shopkeepers and the public, urging them to avoid plastic bags and use cloth bags instead. 

In past years, contractors awarded the tax collection tender had forcibly collected excessive fees from vendors. As a result, the tender has been withdrawn, and the practice of not collecting fees from vendors on Bull Temple Road will continue this year, officials said. 

Installation and repair of street lights, deployment of additional CCTV cameras at key locations, fire and emergency vehicles, first-aid facilities, and marshals for crowd control will be arranged, the department said. 

The fair had attracted nearly five lakh people last year.