JEYPORE: The state Culture department has urged Koraput collector to take up construction of permanent stage for national-level Parab festival held in Koraput annually from November 25 to 27. Based on a PIL filed by human rights advocate Anup Patra, the department’s special administrative secretary, Madhusudan Dash has issued a letter dated November 17 to Koraput collector emphasising the need for a permanent stage to alleviate traffic problems during the festival. The collector has been asked to identify an alternative permanent ground for the Parab festival, aligning with the apprehensions raised by activists and the PIL filed earlier on the same matter.
Earlier, several activists and locals have been pressing for the change of venue of the festival.Hosted at the government college of Landiguda, Koraput since 2018, complaints have been raised on the venue’s inadequacy to accommodate audience of over one lakh people. Locals had also expressed apprehension about the festival’s location, situated adjacent to NH26, a major route connecting Visakhapatnam and Raipur.