Sankranti fete commences with rangoli, kite-flying

• Government has released Rs 1 crore to each district for the celebrations 
• The district administration plans folk and classical dances including Gangireddulu, Haridasula Bajana, Samugaridilu, Puliveshalu, Kolatalu and Dimsa

Visakhapatnam: The entire city and the rural pockets in the district has geared up to celebrate the Sankranti (Pongal) festival with gaiety and fervor.  All parties, NGOs, apartment associations and voluntary bodies started various competitions to mark the occasion. 

All the schools have already celebrated the Pongal with a plenty of cultural programmes and Indian branded rich traditional programmes. Competitions including ‘rangoli’, ‘spot-painting,’ ‘kite-flying,’ cooking and a bunch of other programmes started at all the places. 

The shopping malls, textile showrooms and other commercial establishments fully engaged in the Sankranti business. Four mega movies including Balakrishna's 'Kathanayakudu', Ramcharan Teja's 'Vinaya Vidheya Rama,'  Venkatesh movie 'F-2' and Super Star Rajanikanth's movie 'Peta' are also running with houseful boards. 
The State government has also celebrated the Sankranti Sambaralu as an official event. The government has already released Rs One crore to each district for Sankranti Sambaralu. 

While inaugurating the district-level celebrations at VUDA Children Theatre on Saturday, Collector Pravin Kumar expressed his happiness and called upon people to celebrate the big event in a joyful manner. 

The administration has planned folk and classical dances, ‘Gangireddulu’ ‘Haridasula Bajana’ ‘Samugaridilu’ ‘Puliveshalu,’ ‘Kolatalu,’ ‘Dimsa’ dance and other programmes. Large number of officials attended the programmes with their families. 

Collector Pravin Kumar in a Telugu style of costumes attended the programme. A big number of women participated in the cooking competitions and offered various snacks and dishes to participants. 

On the occasion, the collector informed to the people that during the past four and years, the district has witnessed various development programmes and stood in first place in many parameters. With the announcement of enhancing pension, an amount of Rs 83 crore would be distributed to 48,331 pensioners in the district, he said. 

On the occasion, Zilla Parishad Chairperson L Bhavani said that with the State government’s initiation, the big festival arrived two days before the State. 

The chairperson claimed that, because of the visionary Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s ruling, all sections of the people in the society are leading their life without any problems and issues.