No Rulebook For Sri Sri? Private Event Organisers Want Answers

Vijay Nair, an organiser of music festivals, questions why laws are applicable only to the common man.

The World Cultural Festival stage can be seen just off the DND. (Photo altered by The Quint)

• Will the DDA ever allot land (and at what cost) to a private citizen if they wanted to host 3 million people?
  
• Would it be okay if we overused the allotted land by 30-40 acres?
• Is it okay for private bodies to crack deals and take over land from farmers?
  
• Can we privately alter floodplains without getting plans passed by any government authority?
• Will the Delhi Police ever give permission to any event within the city that hosts more than 100,000 people?
• Are the services of the army available to private parties in case we have ‘many people’ showing up?
• Would the fire department ever clear structural permissions for such massive installations made with flammable material?
• How did the event get a licence in advance, without any on-site inspections? Where is this provision? I’d love to see.
• How can Supreme Court orders be violated and a show be allowed to go on after 10 PM?
• Are the police charging bandobast fees for arranging security for a private event? Why not? As per published fees, this should run into the crores.

These are some of the questions put forth by Vijay Nair, the CEO of Only Much Louder (OML) which has been organising events and music festivals for thirteen years now. The palatial structure built on the Yamuna floodplains has invited the ire of not just environmentalists and activists, but also of private event organisers like Nair.

Calling it “Srisneyland by the Yamuna”, Nair wrote on Tuesday, “I wish every citizen had the right to organise events with the same liberties in Delhi.”

Vijay Nair, who has been organising music festivals for 13 years, questions why laws are applicable only to the common man. (Photo Courtesy: Vijay Nair’s Facebook page)

Nair took to Facebook this morning to express his views.

The site for the Art Of Living World Culture Festival. (Photo: The Quint)

Speaking to The Quint about the Art Of Living World Culture Festival, Nair asks how they were given licenses before inspections.

How could they get a licence three weeks in advance? Licences are granted after an on-site inspection and we usually get them on the morning of the event. All we do is build a stage and even that is physically inspected before we can get the licence. And here, a mini-city has been built and a licence has already been given? What about the physical inspection? What about the bamboo and timber that is being used? How did the fire department clear this?

Vijay Nair, CEO, Only Much Louder (OML)

Nair had previously spoken about the ‘bribe culture’ involved in organising festivals in India. In an earlier conversation with The Quint, he said:

“The bribe culture is so well-set in India that businesses have just grown complacent and accepted it. Organising cultural festivals in India is very difficult unless they are religious. For a Sri Sri Ravi Shankar for instance, there is no ‘bandobast fee’.”

Also read: Exclusive: The Dark Underbelly of Music Showbiz in India