Karnataka Chief Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda on Friday ordered cancellation of ‘La Tomatina’ festival, a Spanish import in which participants throw tomatoes at each other, slated to be held in Bangalore and Mysore on Sunday.

Mr. Gowda instructed police chiefs of the two cities to cancel the event (organised by a private firm), after a delegation of tomato growers from Kolar district, environmentalists and non-governmental organisations met him.

The delegation told the Chief Minister, “Throwing for fun at each other tomatoes, grown through hard work by farmers, reflects foreign culture. In the name of ‘La Tomatina’ festival, permission should not be granted to waste tomatoes.”

BJP MLA B.N. Vijaykumar, who led the delegation, said at least 5,000 people were expected to take part in the festival and each one would hurl 80-100 tomatoes, leading to wastage of five lakh tomatoes.

“62,000 kg of tomatoes getting wasted for the fun of the rich is not fair,” he told the Chief Minister, who immediately responded to the delegation’s concerns and wrote letters to the police chiefs ordering to take steps for their cancellation.