Kottayam, Tuesday 18 January 2010: The state school Kalolsavam began here on Tuesday with Director of Public Instruction A.P.M. Mohammed Hanish hoisting the flag at the police parade ground, the main venue of the event.

The six-day event would end on 23rd of this month. The official inauguration was a simple function, considering the Sabarimala tragedy. Education Minister MA Baby inaugurated the event.

Baby blamed a section of immature parents for the problems faced by the education sector in the state. He accused the parents of educating their children, with only the marriage market in mind. 17 stages would get alive today with youth artists performing.

Earlier report

The main venue, named after Ponkunnam Varkey, will then be opened for competitions in Margom Kali and Bharathanatyam, which will begin at 5 p.m. The arrival of the participating teams began on Monday afternoon with the team from Kasaragod received by Director of Public Instruction Mohammed Hanish. According to authorities, 7,090 contestants will be participating in the festival.

Alappuzha will have the distinction of sending the largest male contingent while Palakkad will send the highest number of girls. The festival, being organised at 17 venues, will also present cultural programmes every evening.

This include a special programme dedicated to the history and culture of Kottayam scheduled for Tuesday evening; a science meet followed by gazal recital by Umbai on Wednesday; a star meet and media conference on Thursday; literary meet on Friday evening; and an education seminar on Saturday evening.

The concluding day will witness “Makkalodoppam”, an interactive programme at which poet Sugathakumari, actor KPAC Lalitha and others will participate. The half-a-century-old Kerala State Schools Festival, (began in 1957) is being organised for the fifth time in Kottayam. The festival comes to Kottayam from Kozhikode last year.

Kottayam District Superintendent of Police P.G. Ashok Kumar said that no half-done measures have been adopted in ensuring security during the event. “More than 1,000 police officers have been deployed in the 18 venues and other parts of the town. Eight DySPs, 22 circle inspectors and 111 sub-inspectors have been entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring safety,” he said.

Kumar also highlighted the elaborate steps taken to prevent traffic congestions, which has become almost a routine affair in the town. “A separate force has been constituted under the leadership of a DySP and three circle inspectors. In addition, 600 NCC cadets and 400 student police cadets will be deployed at various road stretches to ensure normal flow of traffic.”

According to food sub-committee convener P.J. Antony, utmost care and hygiene is being maintained during the preparation. The leftover food after each day will be disposed off and none will be stored for the subsequent day. Moreover, about 10,000 litres of water, provided by the Kerala Water Authority, will be constantly replenished in a storage tank.

Besides the preparation of food, the disposal of waste is also deemed high priority. The waste materials resulting from served food will be disposed into a garbage bin, which will be emptied by the Kottayam Municipality once it is filled.

Moreover, liquid waste will be segregated from the solids and will be pumped out after collection into a sump. The toilets and washbasins will be chlorinated on a regular basis.

(News agency inputs)