President leads people in paying homage to blast victims

Mumbai, July 18 (UNI) At the stroke of 1825 hrs today, Mumbai stood still for two minutes to pay homage to those who sacrificed their lives in the barbaric 7/11 serial train blasts.

President A P J Abdul Kalam led the people in paying homage to those who perished in the July 11 serial bomb blasts by unveiling a plaque and later placing a wreath at exactly 1824 hrs at the Mahim railway station here.

As many as 270 sirens, installed by the Civil Defence Corps, went off at 1824 hrs all over the city as an alert and from 1825 hrs till 1827 hrs, people stood in silence for two minutes as a mark of respect for the victims, to salute the spirit of the people of the city and to send a message that the city was one and united.

All those who had arrived at the Mahim station and also the nearby residents came out onto the terraces of the buildings to pay homage to the blast victims.

Officials of all the three defence forces were also present on the solemn occasion.

Dr Kalam observed a two-minute silence along with Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, Governor S M Krishna, Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil and HRD Minister Arjun Singh and other officials.

All trains on the Western, Central and Harbour railway lines were halted at Mahim, Bandra, Borivali, Matunga, Santacruz, Jogeshwari and Bhayander stations. All suburban and outstation trains on the Central and Harbour lines were also halted for two minutes. At Churchgate, trains on all the four platforms came to a grinding halt and lakhs of commuters waited on the platforms silently to pay their respects to the victims of the serial train blasts.

The fleet of over 3000 BEST buses, 55,000 taxis, airport staff, BMC, Dabbawalas, film and television industry also joined in to pay homage.

At Hutatma Chowk, a busy junction in South Mumbai, pedestrians walking towards Churchgate station stood in silence as soon as the siren went off. Some elderly persons had particularly come out to pay homage and observe the silence.

Even the cable channels and 24-hour news channels went off the air for two minutes.

UNI ST/GVS/ARM/GS/MR MAZ VD RK1915