'Bali Jatra' to be held for 11 days this year

Cuttack: The historic 'Bali Jatra' festival in Cuttack will be held for a duration of 11 days this year instead of 7 days.The annual festival will be organised on the banks of river Mahanadi at Gadagadia ghat in the evening hours.

While district administration has begun preparations for the festival, several programmes have been scheduled for the 4-day "City Festival" included in the 11-day schedule.

During the City Festival, horse riding, boating in Mahanadi, dog show will be organized. Apart from that a "Star Night" will be organised where people can enjoy live performance of Ollywood actors.

"District collector has approved to organise Bali Jatra for 11 days. There will be 950 stalls and 300 additional stalls of ORMAS. Many movie stars will also perform during the festival," Additional Tehsildar of Cuttack, Pradipta Satpathy said.

Meanwhile, traders have expressed dissatisfaction over the increasing charges for setting up of stalls as the allotment process will begin from today.

"The rates per square feet have been increased as new collector has taken charge in Cuttack. None of us is happy with the decision," Bali Jatra Traders' Association Secretary Sukant Mohanty said.