Vadodara hosts tomato fight festival, locals lash out at 'wastage'

Vadodara: Youngsters on Sunday celebrated ‘La Tomatina’ to mark the Friendship Day, perhaps unmindful of the fact that price of the commodity has soared to Rs 100 per kg in markets. [caption id=“attachment_1648351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The local ‘La Tomatina’ event (in which participants hurl tomatoes and get involved in the tomato fight) was organised at a private farm house, located on Sama-Savli Road on the outskirts of the city. “The tomato hurling festival was organised for enjoyment and youths from Surat, Vadodara and neighbouring Vallabhvidya Nagar participated in it,” said organiser of the event who identified himself only as Abhishek. However, the local ‘La Tomatina’ event did not go down well with many, including former minister and the chairman of the Gujarat Civil Supply Corporation Bhupendra Lakhawala. “Tomatoes should not have been wasted like this as it is a very costly vegetable, priced at Rs 100 per kg in the market today,” he said. According to estimates, three tonnes of tomatoes were used in this event which lasted two hours, where every participant was charged an entry fee of Rs 300. One of the participants said that those who took part in the event had no regrets. Meanwhile, many citizens have demanded a stern action against the organisers and also the participants for “wasting” precious tomatoes. PTI