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Bengal

KP Safe Drive Save Life Half Marathon sees record participation

Kolkata: The Kolkata Police Safe Drive Save Life Half Marathon on Sunday morning has set a milestone in its first edition with the highest number of participants in any such event held in the city so far.
Kolkata Police has set a record with 12,000 people from different walks of life participating in the half marathon. There were mainly three parts - 21 km, 10 km and 5 km - in which the half marathon was held for participants in different age categories.
The 21 km half marathon started at 6.30 a.m with Commissioner of city police Rajeev Kumar flagging it off from Red Road. In the second and third parts of the half marathon, participants had to run 10 km and 5 km respectively.
The 10 km half marathon started at 7 a.m, which was flagged off by Lakshmi Ratan Shukla, minister of state for the Youth Services and Sports department. The 5 km half marathon started at 8.30 a.m with several artistes from Tollywood flagging it off.
Around 1,200 participants took part in the 21 km half marathon. The maximum number of people, that is more than 6,000, participated in the 5 km one, while around 4,800 people took part in the 10 km long half marathon.
People from different parts of the city and state participated in the half marathon. Many from others states took part in the event as well and according to a police officer, they had registered themselves to participate in it using the online platform.
More interestingly, around 300 policemen from different ranks participated in the half marathon. Senior IPS officers too didn't let the opportunity go in taking part in the event, that was mainly organised to create Safe Drive Save Life awareness among common people.
Senior IPS officer Suman Bala Sahoo, DG (Welfare) and Ashok Kumar Prasad, IGP II (CID), participated in the 21 km half marathon and completed the entire stretch. Similarly, Ajey Mukund Ranade, IGP I (CID) and DP Singh, Commissioner of Howrah city police, took part in the 10 km long one.
Since the main motto of Kolkata Police was to create awareness among people about safe driving, the route of the half marathon was set in such a way that the participants passed through some parts of both North and South Kolkata, after starting from Red Road.
The participants of the 21 km half marathon passed through Esplanade, Chittaranjan Avenue, Girish Park, Vivekananda Road, Manicktala, Sealdah, Moulali Crossing, Ballygunge CircularRoad, Gurusaday Dutta Road and Ballygunge Phanri.
The participants took a right turn from Ballygunge Phanri to reach Hazra Road from where they passed through Kalighat Bridge, National Library Avenue, Hastings Crossings, Kidderpore and ended at Red Road. Around 13 inmates from a correctional home also participated in the half marathon.

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