Deputy Commissioner G. Jagadeesh said on Friday that the district administration, the departments of Tourism, Sports and Youth Empowerment and other organisations would be jointly organising Malpe Beach Utsav from December 29 to 31.
Addressing presspersons here on Friday, Mr. Jagadeesh said that various beach sports and cultural events would be organised to mark the utsav. Beach volleyball, beach throwball, kite show, sand sculpture show, dog show, dance programme and performances by cultural teams would be held on Sunday.
A men’s Kabbadi floodlight tournament would be held on the beach on Monday. A variety dance programme, “Nritya Vaividhya”, would be held on Tuesday. The Beach Utsav would conclude with a fireworks display on the beach during the New Year celebrations in the early hours of January 1.
Local artistes and local teams had been given preference at the Beach Utsav. The administration was focusing on the development of the southern side of the beach to make it more attractive. CCTV cameras would be installed on the beach. The administration would be holding the Kaup Light House Festival at Kaup in the last week of January 2020.
The administration was developing more facilities at the Malpe Sea Walkway. It was giving importance to developing all beaches in the district so that they could qualify for the Blue Flag. At present, only the Padubidri Beach enjoyed this certification.
An amount of ₹ 5 crore each had sanctioned for the development of Someshwara and Marvanthe beaches and ₹ 25 lakh for the Kodibengre Beach.
Toilet facilities would be provided at the Padukere Beach, he said.
To a query, he said that the police along with an NGO had carried out a survey of traffic issues in Udupi city. They had suggested areas for parking vehicles and also no-parking areas. Tenders had been floated for marking 15 places for parking vehicles.
To another query, Mr. Jagadeesh said that the administration would provide land to all gram panchayats in the district to start Solid and Liquid Resource Management (SLRM) Centres.
Municipal Commissioner Anand Kallolikar, Assistant Director of Sports and Youth Empowerment Roshan Kumar Shetty and Assistant Director of Tourism Chandrashekhar Naik and others were present.
