Performers at the concert on Ravenshaw Collegiate School playground on Saturday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack, Oct. 28: An event organised by a liquor company on the Ravenshaw Collegiate School playground last evening tripped midway following opposition from the school authorities and local residents.

School officials said the organisers mislead them about the event.

“A few individuals had approached me to organise a small cultural programme and we had granted them permission. It was only in the evening that we realised that a musical concert was being hosted,” said school headmaster P.C. Mishra, adding that they stopped the show with assistance from Purighat police.

Mishra added that the school authorities had no idea that hundreds of vehicles and support staff would enter the playground for the event.

The incident has also not gone down well with members of the school’s Old Boys’ Association.

“The playground is meant for sports,” said association member Jaydeep Pal.

Stating that they were opposed to the use of loudspeakers beyond the 65-decibel limit set by the high court, Pal said the organisers had not installed any sound measuring device. “We will file a case against them for violation of norms,” he said.

Sources said that the organisers could not produce any authorisation letter issued to them by the school or other relevant documents for the use of loudspeakers.

Other members of the Old Boys’ Association said they were also thinking of lodging a police complaint against the organisers for hosting a mega concert without necessary permission from the school.

While the organisers could not be contacted for comment, Odia starlet Priya Choudhury, who performed at the event, said some facts might have been misconstrued.

“As far as my knowledge goes, there was no problem with the school authorities. Crowd management was the only issue. We had not expected about 8,000 people to turn up. So, there were not enough chairs. The people kept moving and the concert, which started at 6pm, had to be stopped at 9pm, an hour before schedule,” she said.

The spectators were angry because the show ended abruptly.

“We were not told why the concert was being stopped,” said Satish Jha, who came to see the programme.