GB Nagar admin urges civic duty on Independence Day

Gautam Budh Nagar celebrated the 80th Independence Day with district-wide ceremonies on August 15, led by district magistrate Medha Roopam who unfurled the national flag at the collectorate and called on residents to treat the day as a resolve to serve the nation, not just a holiday. Roopam urged citizens to join cleanliness drives, support the needy, and use personal milestones like birthdays to help vulnerable people, while telling officials to work with 'complete dedication and honesty' to accelerate development.

At the police lines, commissioner Laxmi Singh unfurled the flag and administered a pledge to personnel to protect the country's unity, integrity and sovereignty. The police honoured families of five personnel who died on duty: fire service driver Tirathpal Singh, fireman Rohit Yadav, inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, head constable Bijendra Kumar, and constable Sunil Bhati. Uttar Pradesh minister Narendra Kashyap, at a separate event at a government school in Sector 51, Hoshiarpur, highlighted the Centre's goal of making India a developed nation by 2047 and urged youth participation.

In neighbouring Ghaziabad, cabinet minister Sunil Kumar Sharma and district magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar paid floral tributes to martyrs at Shaheed Smarak and honoured families of martyred soldiers with shawls and sweets. Mandar urged citizens to plant a sapling in the name of the nation to contribute to environmental conservation. In Noida, the Shaheed Smarak in Sector 29 hosted a tri-service memorial ceremony where families of 45 martyrs from Gautam Budh Nagar were honoured.