The first edition of the three-day Bhairavnath Mahotsav concluded in the sleepy township of Chandankyari, 28km from Bokaro steel city, on Saturday, earning bouquets and brickbats in equal measure.

While the Bokaro district administration was overwhelmed with a footfall of around 1.5 lakh over the three days - musical shows of Bollywood singers Kailash Kher and Kumar Sanu and folk artistes Purna Das Baul and Teejan Bai being big draws - it drew flak for inadequate arrangements of drinking water and toilets.

The mahotsav began on Saturday with 40 makeshift toilets and six water tankers of 5,000 litre capacity each. By Sunday, the number of tankers had grown to 12.

Bokaro DC R.M. Ray claimed by Sunday evening, he had arranged to make 30 extra toilets, in all 70. They also kept 15 makeshift toilet units ready for instant assembling, in case the crowds swelled.

When The Telegraph pointed out no loo was earmarked for women, he immediately directed his team to earmark 15 toilets exclusively for ladies.

Thanking The Telegraph for pointing out lacunae in basic amenities ( Water, loo woes mar glam fest, March 28), the Bokaro DC said they made extra arrangements as soon as they realised t footfall was way bigger than they expected.

The DC said they had expected a turnout of 10,000 to 12,000 on each day and had accordingly made arrangements. "I had arranged facilities for around 10,000-12,000 people but more than 50,000 people attended Kailash Kher's programme on the first day itself. On Sunday, over 75,000 people turned out for singers Vidya Sagar and Kumar Sanu's show despite the India-Australia T20 World Cup 2016 quarter-finals on the day. On Monday, a footfall of around 20,000 was recorded for Purna Das Baul and Teejan Bai's performances," said the DC when asked about the mismanagement on the opening day, including lack of eateries and poor seating arrangements.

"We got funds on March 15 and many agencies promised to open eateries but hardly one or two turned up seeing the remote location. The fest was not held in Bokaro, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Ranchi or Jamshedpur but a small sleepy town like Chandankyari where organising such an event is challenging. We committed a few errors on first day but now everything is fine," the DC said.