HAVERI: The Kannada Sahitya Parishad (KSP) and district administration of Haveri have finalised the location to host the upcoming Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelana which will be held from February 26 to 28.
The 86th Sammelana will be held at an open site near GH College on the Pune-Bengaluru road. Manu Baligar, the president of the Parishad, inspected the site and expressed satisfaction over it. He said that the total area is about 28 acres and there will be around 15,000 guests at the event.
“The initial work for the Sammelana has begun. The President of the 86th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelana will be elected in the first week of January. Arrangements will be made in and around Haveri to facilitate the 15,000 guests. Even hotels in nearby cities like Hubballi and Davangere will be booked for guests,” he said.
"The Parishad and administration will form various committees to look after the arrangements. The administration will deploy officials on the committees as only two months are left for the literary event," added a member of the Haveri administration.
The event will be held for the first time in Haveri district which has produced literary giants like Sarvagna, Kanakadasa and Shishunala Sharif. A number of Sammelanas were held in undivided Dharwad district (Dharwad, Haveri and Gadag), but none took place in any of the taluks in the present district.
The state government along with the Parishad has been chalking out plans to organise the event and is hoping that the COVID-19 outbreak will be under control by January so that it can be held in a grand manner.
After a recent meeting with the Parishad, district administration and elected representatives, district minister Basavaraj Bommai said that based on the number of COVID-19 cases, a final decision will be taken on how the event is to be organised.