The Rose Festival is scheduled to be held from February 23 to 25. (Express photo)
ONLY THREE firms have come forward with an expression of interest for holding chopper rides in the city during the Rose Festival. The Municipal Corporation had sent a mail to 112 aviation companies to know if they were willing to hold such rides in Chandigarh. Friday was the last day for submitting willingness to organise the rides.
The Rose Festival is scheduled to be held from February 23 to 25. Though it is only after the finalisation of the company that the rates for a ride would be decided, sources said the price for a ride would be slightly higher than that of last year.
Officer on Special Duty Angrez Singh, who is in charge of organising the rides at the Rose Festival, said, “We are yet to open the sealed envelopes. Only then we would be able to tell which company is offering the lowest rates.”
The chopper ride would be held at the Sector 17 Parade Ground itself. Held for the first time at the Rose Festival last year, the chopper ride was an instant hit as people turned up in large numbers to ride copters.
According to details, the expenditure on this year’s Rose Festival would be Rs 55.67 lakh. Last year, Rs 49 lakh was spent. Initially, due to paucity of funds, the civic body was not clear about holding the chopper rides but because certain councillors said that it was one of the biggest attractions, the MC decided not to skip it.
The three-day annual rose festival will see a host of events at the Rose Garden and Leisure Valley. The dates of the fest were decided after taking into account that roses are in full bloom around this time. Various competitions and musical nights would also be held.
According to officials, there are 829 varieties of roses at the garden spread across a sprawling 40 acres.
Also, there are about 1,400 flower beds and nearly 40,000 plants.