Prez on 3-day Doon visit to unveil projects at Rashtrapati Niketan
Dehradun: President Droupadi Murmu arrived in Dehradun Thursday evening and inaugurated an amphitheatre at Rashtrapati Niketan, the Presidential Retreat located on Rajpur Road.
She also laid the foundation stones for new staff quarters, stables and barracks at the estate.
The President is on a three-day visit to the city. On Friday, she will inaugurate the Rashtrapati Niketan for public visits and unveil visitor amenities, including a facilitation centre, cafeteria and souvenir shop. She will inaugurate Rashtrapati Tapovan and lay the foundation stone for Rashtrapati Udyan, a planned 132-acre ecological park.
Portions of Rashtrapati Niketan and Tapovan will be opened for public viewing starting June 24.
The 186-year-old, 21-acre Rashtrapati Niketan will become the latest Presidential Estate to open to the public under the ongoing initiative to enhance citizen engagement with the presidency and preserve the heritage of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Originally known as Rashtrapati Ashiana, the Dehradun retreat was previously used by the President's bodyguard for training horses.
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Today, the heritage building features curated art displays and highlights its storied past.
Visitors will be able to view the President's bodyguard horses and stables, as well as explore landscaped attractions such as the Lily Pond, Rockery Pond, Rose Garden and Pergola. During her visit, President Murmu is also scheduled to interact with students at the National Institute for Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities on Friday. On June 21, she is expected to participate in
International Yoga Day
celebrations at the state police line grounds.
In the light of her visit, several traffic diversions were enforced across Dehradun. However, traffic on Thursday evening remained severely congested. "The advisory for June 19 was to be in effect till 4 pm, but it seems the President's arrival was delayed. Traffic was at a standstill even after 5:30 pm. The 25-minute journey from Behl Chowk to Malsi took over an hour. We were stuck at Dilaram Chowk for nearly 30 minutes," said one commuter.
Residents said that there were unannounced road closures as well. "Subhash Road was closed near Crossroad Mall, even though the advisory didn't mention it. The alternate route via Supply Road was also heavily jammed. There needs to be a separate VIP route for these events," the commuter added.
Besides Rajpur Road, other key routes such as EC Road, Canal Road and Subhash Road saw prolonged congestion, worsened by evening rain. Superintendent of police (traffic) Lokjeet Singh said, "A D-3 protocol is in place for VVIP movements, which requires certain diversions to be implemented three hours in advance." Officials said that traffic flow resumed later in the evening, aided by additional police deployment to streamline flow.
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