National Anthem to be played at a traffic signal in Balurghat ahead of Diwali

BALURGHAT: National Anthem will be played at Thanamore traffic signal in Balurghat ahead of the Diwali celebrations and vehicular movement will be halted there for 52 seconds, Balurghat civic body chairman Ashok Kumar Mitra, said on Monday.

"Initially, it has been decided that the National Anthem will be played through a public address system at Balurghat Thanamore. A sound system will be set up. We are going to launch the new system there as a pilot project to show our honour to the National Anthem. Later, the same system will be operational at all traffic signals in the city," Mitra said.

According to him, after the siren at 9 am, the National Anthem will be played and all the traffic signals will turn red and traffic police personnel will also stand in attention position. "The National Anthem will be played for 52 seconds after the siren at 9 am. Vehicular traffic will be stopped from all sides of the important junction during the period. We will request all the commuters to stand and sing the National Anthem there," he said. The law enforcers will be requested to conduct the programme with extreme discipline, he added.