New Delhi:
This year’s Republic Day parade is going to be a bit diverse from the previous due to the pandemic. The route will be shorter and contingents would be smaller sized. “The spectator strength has also been brought down from 1,15,000 to 25,000 and children below 15 years old will not be allowed entry. The number of cultural programmes has also been cut down,” a senior officer who has direct information of the matter told .
According to the officer, the parade will not culminate at the Red Fort. “It will start from Vijay Chowk and end at the National Stadium,” he stated, adding the distance of the parade has been reduce down to half – from an earlier 8.2 km to 3.3 km.
The reduction in distance is the outcome of the selection to preserve social distance amongst troops.
Under new protocol, all spectators will be seated according to social distancing guidelines and will put on mask at all instances.
The quantity of folks in every single contingent has been trimmed to 96 alternatively of 144. The size of the contingents has been reformulated to 12×8 in location of the usual 12×12 rows and columns.
Also, thermal screening would be performed at all entry points to the parade venue. Eight isolation and resting booths have been set up for any attendee detected with symptoms of COVID-19 through entry. A medical doctor and a paramedic would be stationed in just about every booth.
Thorough sanitization of the route is getting carried out routinely and anti-viral and bacterial coating are sprayed on dais exactly where VIPs would sit.