The Art of Living has completed the clean-up of the grounds where the World Culture Festival was held on March 11-13,2016. The ground will be officially handed over to the DDA on Monday, April 18, 2016. The grounds have been returned by The Art of Living in a better condition than they received it – greener, cleaner and with no damage to the soil. There was no water, air or soil pollution from Art of Living's side. That should put to rest all apprehensions about the possible pollution due to the mega event.
Says Dr Rakesh Ranjan, environment expert with 20 yrs international experience in wetlands and ecosystems: "The Principal Committee who has recommended the compensation to the NGT was merely on visual assessment. On the same visual basis, we can say that if there was compaction grass would have died."
The World Culture Festival was a spectacular event, and attracted participation from 172 world leaders. More than 3.7 million people from 155 countries attended the event over three days of music, dance, spirituality and a celebration of diverse cultures.
The seven-acre stage on which the event was hosted was an architectural marvel – a temporary structure erected in just 50 days and dismantled in 28. The wonderful thing about the stage was that it was set up without a foundation to prevent damage to the soil.
The area under the stage, as well as the rest of the grounds, now sport a carpet of green grass, and show no signs of any damage. In fact, the place is frequented by cattle for grazing.
A team of our volunteers and specialized cleaning agencies have worked efficiently and tirelessly to ensure that the grounds are handed back in a better condition than we received it.
