The World Culture Festival organised by Sri Sri Ravishankar’s Art of Living foundation has been running into trouble over damage to the environment, as the president politely refused to attend the event, and now the army is facing criticism for building two pontoon bridges on the Yamuna river for the private event.
While the defence ministry justified the actions by saying that the army came to help for ensuring security of lakhs of people by building an infrastructure, it cited army constructing bridges during the Kumbh mela and the Commonwealth Games as an argument, ABP News reported.
A Delhi Police Inspection report has mentioned that seven pontoon bridges were promised but only one was prepared. Work on second is still underway by Army.
But the bigger problem here is whether the Army should be called in at all? Why can’t Sri Sri and the Art Of Living Foundation hire private contractors and get this done?
Meanwhile, here’s how twitterati reacted to the row surrounding the army’s services for a private event.
Around 35 lakh people are expected to attend the event, while the National Green Tribunal asked how permission was granted for temporary structures on the banks of Yamuna.