Parks across Calcutta will turn into yoga venues on the morning of June 21 — International Yoga Day — when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to attend a programme on Red Road.
Officials of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) said some parks that attract large morning crowds will have special arrangements for yoga, while others will remain open for residents who wish to participate.
On Monday, chief minister Suvendu Adhikari is scheduled to launch Swachhta Se Swagat, a five-day cleanliness drive from the KMC headquarters ahead of International Yoga Day on June 21.
KMC administrator and municipal commissioner Smita Pandey has appealed to Calcuttans to assemble in community spaces, parks and institutions between 6.30am and 7.45am on Sunday.
The state government has also asked teachers and students in schools and colleges to participate in the Yoga Day celebrations.
“The Prime Minister will be on Red Road. Registrations are picking up, and we feel we may not be able to accommodate all participants there. We are keeping some arrangements on the Maidan too,” said Indranil Khan, the minister of state (independent charge) for sports and youth affairs.
Registrations can be completed by logging onto yoga.ayush.gov.in.
State government sources said yoga sessions would be held simultaneously at more than a hundred locations across Calcutta between 6.30am and 7.45am on Sunday.
Some of the venues are likely to have screens where the Red Road event will be telecast live.
“We have also planned to deploy trainers at some venues. Many people will be taking part in a yoga session for the first time. Some training will be beneficial for them,” said the source.
The venues will include both indoor and outdoor spaces.
Suvendu’s visit to the KMC on Monday is part of the build-up to Sunday’s celebrations, said officials in the civic body.
KMC sources said the cleanliness drive will target black spots that traditionally remain dirty and where people have used these spots to dump garbage.
“The idea is to have targeted interventions in some locations. A few canal-side roads, stretches along Tolly’s Nullah, some slums and government housing estates are in
the list as our waste collectors have identified these places as black spots,” said a KMC
official.
“We are also focusing on cleaning the surroundings of religious sites. The surroundings and even the premises of many religious sites remain dirty. We will target those places too. Some police stations and their immediate surroundings are also on our list,” said a KMC official.