Dhanbad: The annual techno-cultural festival of IIT(ISM)-Dhanbad, Srijan '18, got off to a colourful start with divisional railway manager Manoj Krishna Akhauri inaugurating the event in the presence of the institute's director Rajiv Shekhar and other officials and students at the host institute on Friday.

"Campus life should be full of activities, be it in academics, sports or art and cultural activities," Akhauri said in his address.

More than 1,000 students from the host institute as well as those from IIT-Roorkie, IIT-Kharagpur, BIT-Mesra, Techno India-Calcutta and BIT-Sindri are participating in the various competitions lined up during the three-day fest.

The preliminary round of Footloose, a solo dance competition, saw 105 contestants vying for the attractive cash prizes.

Organising committee member Saurabh Kumar said the finals would be held on Saturday and the first, second and third prize winners would carry home Rs 6,000, Rs 4,000 and Rs 2,000 respectively.

The day also witnessed 16 campus bands, comprising three to 15 members, participating in the preliminary round of Avalanche, during which they performed for 15-20 minutes each at Open Air Theatre of the institute. The preliminary round of Paridhan, a fashion show, was also held on Friday. Ten teams comprising eight to 16 members each participated in the event.

Himashu Chhabra, a member of the 12-member IIT(ISM) team, Aura, which participated in Paridhan said, "The events provide an opportunity to techies, who generally remain confined to classrooms, laboratories and workshops, to showcase their creative side."