Red Road decks up in I-Day fervour

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday unfurled the national flag in a programme organised on Red Road on the eve of 71st Independence Day.

Banerjee also received Guard of Honour from personnel of the Kolkata Police and the West Bengal Police.

Banerjee gave Chief Minister's Police Medal for Outstanding service to Supratim Sarkar, Additional Commissioner of Police III of Kolkata Police to Rajesh Kumar, ADG (Criminal Investigation Department) and Gyanwant Singh, Commissioner of Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate. Chief Minister's Police Medal for Commendable service was given to Sukesh Jain SP Hooghly, Arnab Ghosh of Superintendent of Police (SP) of Malda district and Kalyan Mukhopadhyay Deputy Commissioner of the Kolkata Police's South East Division by Banerjee.

It was followed by a parade in which the tableaus of different departments passed along the Red Road.

The tableaus were based on different projects of the state government including Sabujshree, Khadyasathi and Kanyashree.

Beneficiaries of different schemes marched after the tableaus and school children performed cultural programmes. Many artistes also took part in the Independence Day parade on Red Road.

The centre of attraction of the parade was two tableaus. One was prepared to spread the message of communal harmony and the other one was to popularise the forthcoming FIFA Under 17 World Cup. Many matches of the tournament will be held in Kolkata.

There was a huge gathering on both sides of the Red Road to get a glimpse of the parade. They also enjoyed artistes performing folk dances.

Banerjee paid floral tribute to the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose situated near Red Road after attending the Independence Day programme.

Independence Day was observed in all schools, colleges, other educational institutions, local clubs, government and private offices in the state. There was no report of any untoward incident as there was tight security all around the city.