Cuttack, April 19: The annual cultural ceremony of Ravenshaw University Students' Union could not take off today due to a controversy over its venue.

The university authorities today did not allow the president of the students' union to host the event on the university lawns citing security reasons. It also issued a show-cause notice to the president of the students' union for construction of a temporary stage without permission.

The programme has been postponed indefinitely.

Tension prevailed on the campus throughout the day as a group of students, led by students' union president Ramya Ranjan Behera, was adamant on holding the event on the varsity lawns. Students of another group, led by Swagat Meher, had been opposing the move.

"We were against holding the event on the lawns as it would have damaged the lawn and the university's beautification. We wanted the venue of the event to be shifted," said Meher.

Vice-chancellor Prakash Chandra Sarangi was upset that the students' union president did not abide by the university's regulations while organising the annual event.

The varsity authorities was forced to write a letter to the local Malgodown police station requesting them to take appropriate action against those who were involved in constructing the pandal illegally on the university campus.

"We had no problem with the event being hosted on the campus. But, the students' union wanted to hold it on the lawns, which we had not allowed," said Sarangi.

Sarangi said that the varsity had also informed the students that the selection of venue was not appropriate from the security point of view as it was located very close to the adjacent main road.

"We have postponed the annual celebrations of the union. We will come up with fresh dates for holding the event shortly," said Behera.

Behera claimed that the students had earlier approached the registrar for holding the event on the lawns. He also claimed that many events have been held on the lawns in the past.