Those above 60 and below 18 will not be allowed to attend the Republic Day programme at Ranchi’s iconic Morabadi ground on Wednesday in the wake of the ongoing third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Officials of the Ranchi district administration said that even though booster doses for the elderly with comorbidities and vaccines for teenagers betwen 15 and 17 were being provided, the decision to disallow these two groups had been taken as a preventive measure.
On Monday, deputy commissioner Chhavi Ranjan, with senior SP S. K. Jha, supervised the full dress rehearsal of the parade at the venue. Twelve platoons from the Indian army, para military forces and state police will participate in the parade. This apart, the Army, CRPF, Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP), Home Guard and JAP 10 (women battalion) will take part in a band display and performance.
Deputy Commissioner and SP hold a meeting with administrative officials at Morabadi in Ranchi on Monday. Telegraph picture
Ranjan said that foolproof preparations had been made to ensure Covid appropriate norms at the venue on Republic Day and for the overall maintenance of law and order. “Police have chalked out route maps to the venue, and directions have been given to all police stations for proper vigil,” he said.
Sources said the administration was looking at a turnout of not more than 3,000 people.
According to a police notification issued in the evening, drop gates would be set up at 17 places around the main venue to regulate crowd and vehicular movement.
Traffic police have announced no-entry of heavy vehicles in the city between 6 am to 10pm on Wednesday.
As per the tradition, governor Ramesh Bais will unfurl the Tricolor in Ranchi, while chief minister Hemant Soren will do so in Dumka, the state’s second capital in the Santhal Pargana region.
At Dumka, Hemant is scheduled to launch the state government’s petrol subsidy scheme for ration card holders for which the state cabinet has allocated over Rs 100 crore.
According to the scheme, eligible ration card holders with two-wheelers will be provided a subsidy of Rs 25 per litre of petrol with a monthly cap of Rs 250. The money will be credited directly to bank accounts.
