Grand traditional welcome planned at Nagpur International Airport for C20 delegates

NAGPUR: As C20 delegates land at Nagpur airport late evening on Sunday, they will get a grand traditional welcome, which includes traditional music, dance and even a khadi-based headgear for all guests. Nagpur will host the inception conference for C20 from March 20-21, after which it will be held in various cities across the country.
While divisional commissioner Vijayalakshmi Bidari is the overall in-charge, the event’s supervision has been further divided between NMC commissioner Radhakrishnan B and district collector Vipin Itankar for better coordination.
The district collectorate will be handling the protocol side, which includes welcoming the delegates. “They will be given a traditional welcome at the airport. We will give them a headgear brought in from Sevagram. Even a children’s band will be there,” said Dr Itankar.
Apart from this, a huge enclosure having a capacity to accommodate 200 people, has been built at the airport. “Delegates’ photos will be taken here, and it will be presented to them later,” said Itankar. From the airport, delegates will be taken directly to their hotel, where the conference is scheduled to be held.
Civic chief Radhakrishnan is handling all events and movement of delegates within the city, which also includes the conference. One of the major events for the delegates will be the gala dinner on March 20, as it has been elaborately planned to provide an experience which goes beyond just culinary delight.
Almost every food item’s history will be told by people dressed in traditional attire, while QR codes will help identify the nutritional content in each recipe. The menu for the gala dinner has been curated by celebrity chef Vishnu Manohar.
Telangkhedi garden has been chosen as the venue to host this open-air dinner. Earlier authorities were contemplating having the gala dinner at Futala. But lack of space and traffic problems in the area seems to have forced change in the plan.
Radhakrishnan said, “Delegates will visit Futala lake for the musical fountain show after which they will head for dinner at Telangkhedi.”
With over 200 delegates visiting various places in the city, Radhakrishnan has come up with a ‘no traffic snarl’ plan for them. “We have designated 10 electric buses for movement of C20 delegates to different areas within the city,” said Radhakrishnan.
Each bus will have one person who will act as a chaperone for the delegates during their intra-city journey, and give information about the city and places they are visiting.
On March 22, delegates will head off for field visits to Sevagram Ashram and Pench Tiger Reserve for an afternoon safari. “For this the private long-distance buses will be used as electric buses are for local use only,” said Radhakrishnan. Both the civic chief and district collector told TOI that ongoing state employees’ strike has not impacted C20 preparations.