Queen's Baton relay (QBR) in Himachal Pradesh at Mehatpur

The arrival of Queen's Baton relay (QBR) in Himachal Pradesh at Mehatpur in district Una was marked with festivity and euphoria amidst beating of drums and loud applause by thousands of children who had assembled to witness the historical moment.

The Queens Baton Relay, which arrived from Chandigarh, was received at Mehatpur, the border of Punjab and Himachal, by Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sh, Satpal Singh Satti, along with Chairman Zila Parishad, Sh. Balbir Singh Bagga, Nodal Officer and Director Youth Services and Sports, Sh. J.R. Katwal, Deputy commissioner, Sh. K.R. Bharti, SP, Sh. Santosh Patial, local people and Senior Officers of the district. Sh. Sushil Bhardwaj, Sh. Vijay Rana,vice-President Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association (HPOA), sh.Manish Sharma Joint Secretary HPOA were also present in the welcome ceremony.

The school children lined up along both side of the road, with tricolour in their hands welcomed the QBR right from Mehatpur to the Indira Gandhi Stadium to mark the celebration.

“It is a joyous moment for me to be a part of the QBR and the first Opportunity to carry the Queen Baton in Dev Bhoomi Himachal” said Deepak Thakur, the member of Indian hockey team hailing from Una. Padamshree Charanjeet Singh, who led Indian Hockey team in 1964 world cup, Arjuna Awardee Sh. Mohinder Lal,(Shooting) International players as Harsh Tripathi,(Handball) Surjeet Singh(Volley Ball), Vinod Kumar of State Olympic Association, and Vijay Kumar, the representative of Hero Honda, the official Sponsors of QBR, expressed their pleasure to be a part of QBR.

The stadium wore a bridal look and became the first such venue in the History of the State to greet QBR in its three day voyage covering almost half of Himachal Pradesh traversing through the districts of Kangra at Dharamshala, Hamirpur, Bilaspur, Shimla, Solan and Sirmaur to be finally handed over to the Uttarakhand authorities on 6th of this month.

Speaking on the occasion Sh. Satpal Singh Satti, Chief Parliamentary Secretary described the QBR as privilege for the State to host QBR and hoped that the journey of QBR within Himachal would be exquisite and unforgettable.

He said that after covering more than 171,500 Kms in last 249 days through 70 members countries of Common Wealth Nations, the QBR was spreading the message of goodwill and harmony together with promoting and advocating the measures to be adopted for preservation of ecology.

Sh. J.R Katwal, Director Youth Services and Sports and the Nodal officer of QBR in the State honoured the National and International players and said that it is matter of pride for the present generation and the people of the Pradesh to have witnessed this moment, which rarely comes in lifetime.

A colourful cultural programme was also performed on the occasion.

Sh. K.R. Bharti, Deputy Commissioner, proposed vote of Thanks. Senior officers of the district and other prominent people of the town were also present on the occasion.