CHANDIGARH: In a major setback to the UT administration, the central government has rejected all three themes it had submitted for its tableau for the Republic Day parade for the fifth year in a row.
The administration had submitted three different themes, ‘Peace’, ‘Beauty’ and ‘Bliss, blend of natural beauty and health and cycle tracks’, terming these tracks as lifeline of Chandigarh, to the ministry of defence. The administration had tried its best to offer something different showing cycle tracks, natural beauty of the city and its architecture but to no avail.
“The city has been promoting cycling and has almost 250km cycle tracks. We had featured this aspect in a tableau in a prominent manner. Moreover, city architecture and greenery were also something different. We will try and be more innovative next time,” an official said.
Sources said employees and officers had gone to Delhi and presented the themes before the expert panel of the ministry of defence. Earlier, after preparing the themes, officers of the UT had studied them. It was after the approval of Punjab governor and UT administrator V P Singh that the proposals were sent to the ministry.
Chandigarh tableau has participated in the Republic Day parade on four occasions, last in 2014, when the theme was Rock Garden. And, that too had happened after a gap of 13 years.
The administration had submitted other themes, like Doll Museum, works of Le Corbusier, Sukhna Lake and Capitol Complex, to the central government for its tableau in the past.