Rain plays spoilsport in Queen's Baton Relay celebration
With monsoon at its peak, the elaborate arrangements for the Queen's Baton Relay turned out to be a damp squib after it arrived at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport in Kolkata an hour behind schedule today.
With monsoon at its peak, the elaborate arrangements for the Queen's Baton Relay turned out to be a damp squib after it arrived at the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport in Kolkata an hour behind schedule today.
Led by India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia, a boast of sportspersons including Olympian Soma Biswas, Asian Gamesdouble gold medallist Jyotirmoyee Sikdar and yesteryear'sfootball star Tulsidas Balaram welcomed the Baton at theairport.
Sports minister Kanti Ganguly, Bengal Olympic Association chief Paresh Nath Mukherjee and secretary Kamalesh Chatterjeewere also present at the airport to receive the Baton, whicharrived at Kolkata from Agartala.
Amidst heavy downpour, the Baton was then taken to the Bodyguard Lines in a lacklustre manner as there were no wavingof schoolchildren along the 15km route, as it was plannedearlier.
"Rains have shattered all our plans. We had planned to bring about 5,000 schoolchildren, waving flags along the route up to the Bodyguard Lines where the Baton will be kept. But the weather has played spoilsport," BOA Secretary KamaleshChatterjee said.
From the Bodyguard Lines in Alipore, the Baton would be taken to the Victoria Memorial at around 3 pm where former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly would join the celebration.
"We hope that the weather clears a bit so we can expect a crowd to gather when the Baton Relay begins from Victoria Memorial's North Gate at 3 pm," he said.