With the 86th Akhil Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan scheduled to take place on February 26, 27 and 28 in Haveri, president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat Manu Baligar inspected the site identified of the literary event on Saturday.
The Haveri district administration and the Kannada Sahitya Parishat have together temporarily identified 20 acres of land adjacent to GH College in Haveri and another open space of about six to eight acres adjacent to it for holding the mega literary event.
After inspection of the site, Mr. Manu Baligar felt that the site was the most suitable for holding the event as adequate open space was available for making food arrangements, for setting up temporary stalls for book sellers and other commercial stalls.
He said that there was a demand for setting up more stages [two] along with the main stage.
While Nolamba Kalyanamantapa which could accommodate 1,000 people was located nearby, another venue was yet to be identified. A decision in this regard would be taken by the district administration and local unit of the Sahitya Parishat, he said.
Regarding the accommodation arrangements required for 15,000 registered delegates, writers and dignitaries, he said that hotels, community halls, hostels and guesthouses located within a radius of 20 km around the city were being identified for the purpose. This apart, accommodation arrangements were also likely to be made in Davangere, Hubballi and Ranebennur, he said.
Mr. Baligar said that in a meeting chaired on Friday by Home Minister and district in-charge Basavaraj Bommai, it had been decided to make preparations that did not involve any expense. Various committees would soon be put on active mode for the preparations, he said.
President of the district unit of Sahitya Parishat Lingayya Hiremath, taluk unit president Yallappa Adalakatti and others were present.
In the first preparatory meeting of the sahitya sammelan on Friday evening, Mr. Bommai asked all those concerned to begin preparations to ensure that the event provided a platform for literary discussions of the highest order.
Mr. Bommai said that with the anticipation of COVID-19 pandemic subsiding by January-end, the dates for the literary event had been announced.
After taking into consideration the situation by January-end, the issue would be discussed with the Chief Minister and the format of the event would be finalised, he said.
Despite a fiscal crunch, the Chief Minister would be convinced to release the required grants, he said. Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil, Mr. Manu Baligar, Deputy Commissioner of Haveri Sanjay Shettennavar, MP Shivakumar Udasi, MLA Nehru Olekar and others gave suggestions. Parishat office-bearers and officials were present.
