Rain scare keeps big organizers away from Navratri

SURAT: The active monsoon is disturbing the sleep of many big commercial Navratri organizers this year. There are hardly any takers of open plots to organize the dance festival in the city.
So far, only two big organizers have declared their plans this despite the fact that only two weeks are left for the Navratris to begin. Not long ago at least 10 big commercial Garbas were organized in different parts of the city.However, since the past two years due to the incidents of violence and rising expenses, the number of organizers has come down to just five.
"Factors like rowdy crowd, clashes and rain have driven away the organizers," said Nitin Talati of Harvik Enterprise, who regularly organized Garbas till 2009. "This year the monsoon is one month late. There is possibility of rains during Navratri too. Taking an open plot for organizing the dance festival for nine nights during the rainy season is plain risk and can cause huge financial loss," he added.
"I am not aware of any other big group that plans to organize the festival this year on large scale. Rain can play a spoilsport," said Aakash Agarwal, who with his M Square group will be organizing the Navratri at the Indoor Stadium this year. Tina Cheda and her Swar Manjari group will perform at the Indoor Stadium. "We have not finalized the ticket rates but there will be season and daily passes," Agarwal said.
Another big group that will be organizing the festival on large-scale will be the City Plus Multiplex. Danny Nirbang, one of its organizers, said, "We are organizing the Navratri for the people of our city. We will have local artistes during the festival."
Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) gives plots on rents for Navratri festival. It had announced its intention to let out 14 of its plots for commercial organizers. However, till today not a single plot has been taken by anyone. Jivan Patel, Director of Planning, SMC, said, "No one has come forward to take our plots."
Till last year, at least 7 to 10 plots were being given on rent to different organizers.