The Rally of Chandigarh, organized by Chandigarh Police today to focus on traffic safety, safety of women and respect for law, was a huge success.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Mr Alok Kumar flagged off the impressive rally. The rally was led by 93 superbikes and rally motorcycles. These were followed by 163 super cars, luxury cars and rally cars. Rally cars and motorcycles driven by with top rallyists of the country from the region joined the convoy. Children and senior citizens were also part of the rally.
The rally was flagged off from the parking opposite Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10. Before the flag-off, highly trained professionals performed a stunt show on two cars and six motorcycles in the open area opposite the Government Museum.
UT Senior Superintendent of Police Mr Naunihal Singh said the rally was a symbolic gesture to focus on the issues associated with a safe city. “It is vital for youth and all motorists to obey traffic rules, and ensure complete safety of women in all areas,” he said. “Our effort was to emphasize upon these significant social issues,” he said.
SSP Mr Naunihal Singh said that the rally was organized after top rallyists of the region initiated the idea.
After the flag off, the rally went around Matka Chowk and reached the Panjab University campus. Here, Vice Chancellor Prof Arun Grover, students and rally participants took a pledge to obey traffic rules, ensure women’s safety and work towards ensuring a safe Chandigarh.
The rally then moved on the inner roads of Sectors 11 and 10, after which it came on Madhya Marg to proceed towards Elante Mall. At Elante Mall, the Rally of Chandigarh was greeted by thousands of visitors.
The impressive line up of superbikes, rally bikes, super cars and luxury cars evoked huge interest among the visitors to the mall.
Some of the riders of superbikes, supercars and rally cars parked their vehicles in the courtyard of Elante Mall, as the crowd of spectators milled around for this colourful Sunday evening show.
The stunt show by trained bikers of Chandigarh in the sprawling courtyard of the mall added to the excitement of the Rally of Chandigarh. This was followed by a small skit presented by Infosys Rangmanch. The skit focussed on the safety of women, and encouraged them to fight sexual harassment in all areas.
The Rally of Chandigarh ended with the pledge taken by thousands of visitors to Elante Mall to ensure a safe city, safe driving, safety of women and respect for law in all areas. The pledge was led by SSP Operations Mr RS Ghumman.
Team Chandigarh Adventure Sports (TCAS) has provided the logistics support for the rally. Mr Gulpreet Aulakh, Founder of TCAS, said that the rallyists from the tricity were happy to be part of an initiative that focussed on these vital social messages. The initiative to organize the rally was supported by Mr Govind RV, president of the Elite Supercars Club of Chandigarh.
Various motorsport clubs of the city joined hands with Chandigarh Police to promote the cause of road safety, safety of women, and respect for law. These includef Gerrari Offroaders, 4X4 Earth Crawlers, Team AB Racing, Northern Proriders and Sunny Sidhu Rallying.
Leading automobile manufacturers joined the event to support the noble cause of safe city and safe driving. These included BMW, Porsche, Jaguar, Range Rover, Audi, Mercedes and Toyota. In addition, supercars like Lamborghini, Ferrari, Audi, Porsche etc participated in the rally. Among superbikes, Harley Davidson Hoggs and KTM riders were joined by some of the top rally bikers of the region.