Chandigarh celebrates Republic Day with fanfare

Chandigarh, Jan 26 (IANS) The Union territory of Chandigarh celebrated India's 60th Republic Day here Monday with great fanfare comprising a march past, a guard of honour, cultural programmes and singing of patriotic songs.

The Republic Day function here saw the participation of the Chandigarh Police, Chandigarh Home Guards, Punjab Armed Police, Haryana Armed Police, NCC cadets, road safety wing and school children.

Pardeep Mehra, adviser to the administrator, hoisted the national flag and took the salute at the parade.

Addressing the gathering, Mehra said: 'Many developmental projects have been initiated in Chandigarh in 2008 that are on the verge of completion. The administration here is working hard for the overall development of the region.'

All the senior officials of the Chandigarh administration were present during the function. Hundreds of spectators thronged the venue to witness the programme.

There was a colourful procession of eight floats by various institutions of the city like the Red Cross Society, College of Arts, Punjab Engineering College, and forest and adult education departments of the government.

There were tight security arrangements across the city to ensure that the celebrations were held peacefully.

'Over 30 checkpoints were installed at various sensitive locations in the city to keep a close tab on any anti-social element here. We are working in close contact with intelligence agencies here to thwart any untoward incident,' said Senior Superintendent of Police S.S. Srivastava.