Sambalpur: Plantation through Festival, an innovative programme to promote and popularise plantation, was organised on the bank of river Mahanadi on Sunday.

Thousands of people from different age groups thronged the Ring Road to take part in the cultural show and the plantation programme. Various socio-cultural organisations, clubs and literary organisations also took part in the event.

A long human chain was organised on the Ring Road. Participants wore white shirts with a green logo to show their support for the cause.

The programme started by saplings plantation. A galaxy of dignitaries, including director of Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur, Mahadeo Jaiswal, vice-chancellor of Sambalpur University, Deepak Behera, vice-chancellor of Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Atal Choudhury and director of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Science and Research, A.Pujahari attended the inauguration event.

A painting competition was organized in which hundreds of schoolchildren used colours to sketch their ideas on the theme.

Thousands of people put their signatures supporting Green Mahanadi on a big screen stating "I love Mahanadi". A group of youngsters displayed their talent on martial arts and judo and gave examples on self protection. Cultural troupes performed Sambalpuri dance on the famous "Rangabati" song with dhol and nishan accompaniment.

A dance drama and street play were organized on various educative themes on the road side which attracted huge crowd. A selfie competition was also organised on the background of Mahanadi.

The event was organised jointly by the district administration under the leadership of collector Samarth Verma, Sambalpur Muncipal Corporation and forest department with a mission to rejuvenate river Mahanadi and to create a green belt along the banks.

Speakers encouraged people to plant trees to save the environment. One of them said: "Civilization flourished on the bank of river. We have to save our Mahanadi, which is holy Ganga for us".

The entire route of plantation area was divided into segments and allotted to different groups for plantation. People living nearby areas have assured that they will take care of the plants by putting Raksha Sutras on it. A traffic park was inaugurated on this occasion for the children.