Delhi dashed

Capital's tableau for Republic Day meets with a freak accident

Delhi dashed

Capital's tableau for Republic Day meets with a freak accident

It seems that Delhi government's attempt to take part in the Republic Day parade after three years is jinxed. The state tableau met with an accident when it was returning from rehearsal at Rajpath.

Damaged:u00a0The poster covering Delhi's tableau for R-Day was torn after
it hit a recovery van at Mansingh Road. Pics/Imtiyaz Khan

The incident occurred on Tuesday at around 11 am when the tableau took a left turn towards Mansingh road and hit a recovery van belonging to the defence forces. A poster showing people belonging to different religions pasted on the tableau got damaged. Interestingly, the tableau is fully covered from the front and has just a small window for the driver to see.

"The tableau was moving at a very slow speed, but as the whole structure was almost covered, the driver was not able see the recovery van standing in front and rammed into it. The poster got completely damaged. Later, there was a heated argument between the defence personnel manning the recovery van and the driver of the tableau," said a bystander who witnessed the whole incident.

The officials of the cultural department are now in a fix. The incident took place just a day before the tableau was to be shown to the media.

"We have only about a week's time to fix the entire thing. Moreover, we have to be present during the rehearsals also. We will have to pull up our socks in order to get things rectified," said an official involved in conceptualisation of the tableau. However, he refused to reveal the actual cost of damage.

The tableau has been made by Delhi Art and Culture department and has been approved by the Ministry of Defence. The theme is the city's monuments. All the festivals that are celebrated in India have been displayed on the tableau with Delhi's monuments in the background.

The rehearsals for Republic Day will continue on Thursday and Friday. Police have issued an advisory to commuters to expect congestion near India Gate and its surrounding areas till noon and avoid the area. The rehearsals take place at Rajpath from 9 am to noon.

"Due to this the road from Vijay Chowk to India Gate will be closed for traffic from 9am on Jan 17, 18, 20 and 21. Also cross-movement on Rafi Marg, Janpath and Mansingh Road will be stopped from 9 am to 11:30am," said Satyendra Garg, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic).