Dust takes the sheen off exhibition

Dharwad: Visitors are forced to contend with a severe dust problem at the Sammelan venue. The worst affected are those who have set up stalls on the University of Agricultural Sciences premises. More than 400 stalls are exhibiting handicrafts, clothes, artefacts, along with cottage and health products.
The products on display sport a dust coating as the exhibition venue has no carpets on the floor and water is not sprinkled around the area. Visitors and vendors cover their faces to avoid dust. Besides, the exhibition area lacks drinking water and toilet facilities.

Asha Bagewadi, an employee of Syndicate Bank, and Vidya Jamkhandi, another visitor, said: “There are good products available in the exhibition, but we can’t bear the dust. We had to cover our face with napkins to escape from dust allergies.”

Engineering students Sharanayya Guddamath and Shakti Revadgerei said it was horrible to walk inside the exhibition area. “We can’t even discuss about the products with sellers due to the dust,” they said.

Pushpa Narasingannavar from Lokapur said, “Many women entrepreneurs and development projects are on display, but we can’t spend a lot of time at the exhibition due to the dust problem.”

Mahabaleshwar Naik of Canara Bank Deshpande RSETI, who runs a stall to provide information on self-employment and handicrafts, said: “I can’t speak to our visitors without covering my face due to the dust.”

Krishna Leela Mangaluru of Sri Shakti Stall said arrangements at the exhibition were very bad. “Our products are now very dirty with dust, we have to clean them every five minutes,” she said.

Yashodha Yerikoppa of Laxmi Garments, Dharwad said there was no drinking water at the venue. “There are no adequate toilet facilities for women. The one mobile toilet at our exhibition areas is stinking and overflowing,” she said.