$6M to stage Divali Nagar

Divali Nagar will cost $6 million this year with just over $600,000 to be spent on police, security, fire and ambulance services.

President of the National Council for Indian Culture (NCIC) Senator Deoroop Teemal revealed the figures on Saturday night when he spoke with Guardian Media at the Ramayan Yagna that leads to the opening of the Nagar.

He said the NCIC pays more than $250,000 to the police and $100,000 to the fire services, with most of the funding provided by the private sector, while the Government inject some cash into the festivities.

Noting that safety at the Nagar is paramount, he said, “Over the years we have had incident-free Divali Nagars because the police presence is not only inside, it is surrounding the Nagar. There are patrols and drone surveillance” Teemal said there has been a 15 per cent increase in exhibitors due to a greater demand for booths at the event.

“We got quite good reviews from the public last year, a lot of persons coming into the Nagar last year expressed satisfaction with the shorter time they took to get into the compound and to park. We are working very closely with the Central Division who are managing the traffic,” he said.

There will not be fireworks. However, come 2025 the NCIC will be staging a drone show. This year’s theme, Ghasta Ashram -Building Homes and Building Families, comes at a time when many families are facing challenges in dealing with social and economic issues, Teemal said.

“Strong families contribute positively to the national fabric. Because of the detrition of the home, and the role of the householder in the homes in building strong and resilience families to cope with the challenges, we are seeing a deterioration of family life which contributes to the situation with crime, domestic violence, all forms of violence, bullying, all could be traced back to the family, its genesis is in the family.

“We felt by addressing the family, the challenges the family face, reminding the nation once again of the importance of family and the need to build our households is very relevant at this time,” he said.

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