Lights have been installed in Salal dam in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. ANI
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been lit up in the shades of the Tricolour on the eve of Independence Day.
While the Lal Chowk in Srinagar has been lit up in the colours of the national flag, lights have been installed in Salal dam in Reasi district, visuals shared by news agency ANI showed.
Visuals of the illuminated clock tower at Lal Chowk also showed security personnel keeping vigil. Earlier, this month, Srinagar Mayor Junaid Mattu had tweeted that new clocks have been fitted on the clock tower and lights installed.
At Salal dam, lights of the national flag's colours installed on the dams of the wall are illuminating the water as it gushes down. Baghliar dam in Ramban district too was illuminated in the colours of the national flag.
As part of the Independence Day celebrations, hundreds of schools and government offices across Jammu and Kashmir will hoist national flag tomorrow. The administration has made it mandatory for all government institutions to hoist the tricolour and medical facilities in the Union Territory have also been asked to do so.
There are 23,000 government schools in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources say despite government directions, its unlikely that all schools will hold Independence Day function. In Srinagar city, an officer in education department said that out of 120 schools in his area of jurisdictions, only four schools will hoist the national flag and sing National anthem.
While educational institutions in the Union Territory have been closed due to the pandemic, they have been preparing for the Independence Day celebrations for the past 10 days.
"Independence Day will be celebrated in all schools. Directions should be conveyed to all the CEOs, Principals/headmasters to hoist national flag at all schools. Videos and photos of the function will be uploaded on google drive," a government order earlier said.
The ceiling on gatherings in view of Covid has also relaxed for Independence Day celebrations.
The elaborate preparations to celebrate Independence Day, known to be muted in Kashmir for decades and marked by shutdown calls by separatists, are being seen as an attempt by the administration to show normalcy in the Valley since the special status to Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped in 2019.
Meanwhile, prominent public buildings across the country were lit up in the colours of the tricolour ahead of the Independence Day.
These include Parliament and North and South Blocks in Delhi, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation building and Bombay Stock Exchange in Mumbai, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and Lucknow railway station, the Chennai Central railway station. Indian embassies abroad have also been lit up in the tricolour's lights to mark the occasion.