The annual Phool Walon Ki Sair has received permission to be held at its original venue, Aam Bagh in Mehrauli. A statement from the Delhi Lieutenant Governor’s office said L-G V K Saxena intervened in the matter.
The festival, symbolising communal harmony through floral offerings at a Mehrauli dargah and a temple, had been cancelled this year after the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) allegedly withheld permission.
The statement said the festival’s organisers told the DDA that they will be organising it in February-March next year.
It said that after the L-G took serious exception to the centuries-old festival being denied permission, “the DDA put up the matter for review. Subsequently, after due deliberation, conditional permission to the effect that no harm is done to the environment while holding the festival, was granted. This decision balances the preservation of ecological integrity with the continuation of Delhi’s cultural legacy”.
Saxena, the statement said, also warned officials against being “unresponsive or apathetic” towards people’s issues. “He has also sought action against officials found acting in deterrence to public interest,” it said.
Last year, Saxena had personally attended the event, presenting a chaadar at the dargah, while then Delhi CM Atishi had also participated.
Officials claimed permission had been pending due to a November 2023 order of the then AAP government, which prohibited holding festivals or other events in the Southern Ridge area. The Department of Forests and Environment, in a letter that cited provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980, had stated that no non-forest activity can be allowed on forest land without prior approval, they said.
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Responding to this, the Aam Aadmi Party said, “The Lieutenant Governor has an old habit of lying. We challenge the L-G to suspend the Secretary who took the decision to stop ‘Phool Walon Ki Sair’ this year as well as last year.” “He will not dare to suspend the officer because it was on his directions that such anti-people and communal orders were passed by the officers,” it claimed.
Phool Walon Ki Sair sees both Hindu and Muslim communities come together to offer floral chaadars and pankhas at the dargah of Khwaja Bakhtiyar Kaki and the Yogmaya temple in Mehrauli. It has its origins in the early 19th century, when the Mughal empire was beginning to decline.
Last week, Usha Kumar, General Secretary of the Anjuman Sair-E-Gul Faroshan, a non-profit that has been organising the festival since 1961, had said, “… We met the DDA in April to get permission to hold it in Aam Bagh, but they said a No-Objection Certificate is needed from the Forest Department. The Forest Department did not respond to calls or messages, so we had the message hand delivered to them. The Delhi government also supported us and attempted to coordinate between different government agencies, but the DDA did not give permission eventually.”
“Till 2023, they were allowing us to hold the festival at Aam Bagh,” she said. “How did they suddenly realise they can’t allow us?”
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The DDA, however, had said this was incorrect and “conditional permission subject to compliance of forest laws” had been given earlier.
