New Delhi, Jan 18 : Delhi Lieutenant Governor V.K. Saxena, on Sunday, expressed joy and contentment over the "enthusiastic response" of public to the Third International Kite Festival of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) at Baansera grasslands near the Yamuna.

What gave him additional satisfaction was the fact that the venue and the event are both his ideas.

In a message on social media platform X, the L-G said, "The International Kite Festival, inaugurated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, at DDA's Baansera on January 16 seems to be emerging as a popular destination on the national capital's event calendar."

"On its opening day, starting at 1 p.m., it had 3,000 visitors, 9,000 on the second day and more than 15,000, till 4 p.m. today. The 11th International Dance and Music Festival being organised by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), simultaneously at the venue is similarly getting enthusiastic response," he wrote.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had inaugurated the three-day International Kite Festival on Friday.

DDA Vice-Chairman N. Saravana Kumar said the inauguration ceremony took place at Birsa Munda Chowk in Baansera.

Earlier, the DDA threw open and invited citizens to visit the restored grasslands on Yamuna floodplains at Baansera near Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi in August 2024.

On the eve of the start of the kite festival, in an X post, the L-G attached a short video capturing the images of transformation of the area and captioned "Baansera -- From Degradation to restoration as a green oasis".

"Inspired by PM Narendra Modi Ji's towering vision of restoring 2.6 crore hectares of country's degraded land by 2030, we took a baby step in Delhi on May 28, 2022, right after I took over as L-G," he added.

"On a visit to a heavily degraded and polluted stretch along the Yamuna, opposite Sarai Kale Khan on the Ring Road, Baansera -- abode of bamboos, was conceived. What followed was not only restoration, but reclamation and transformation, within a short span of 18 months, thanks to the painstaking efforts of Delhi Development Authority @official dda," L-G Saxena said in a post on X.

Describing the DDA as the custodian of the Yamuna floodplains in Delhi, the L-G said, "Today, with about 30,000 bamboo trees that stand more than 30-feet-tall, amid other indigenous trees and rolling landscape of green grass, flowers and water bodies, Baansera has emerged as a unique new recreational destination and an ecological wonder in Delhi."

/IANS