Preparations for the International Yoga Day are underway at the Forest Research Institute (FRI) campus in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to take part in the event on June 21.

The FRI campus was closed for visitors for two days to prepare the venue for the event, while women officials led a ‘Walk for Yoga’ through the main roads of the city to motivate people to turn up in large numbers to ensure its success.

Preparations are underway on a large scale in the city for over a week to organise the yoga day function, with top administrative officials visiting the venue on a daily basis to see if everything was in place.

The routes, from where the prime minister’s convoy is likely to pass, is being repaired on a war footing with the potholes being filled up, a fresh coat of asphalt being laid on them and the dividers being painted afresh.

A release from the FRI said its campus will remain closed on June 19-20 as various measures are being undertaken to clean its premises, spread over an area of about 500 hectares.

All kinds of waste, including polythene and plastic litters, will be collected and disposed of over the next two days, it said regretting the inconvenience caused to the people by the closure.

Several ‘Walk for Yoga’ have been held in the city since Saturday, including the ones by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat and his Cabinet colleagues, police officials led by Director General of Police Anil Raturi.

Leading a ‘Walk for Yoga’ in the city on Saturday, the chief minister appealed to people to make yoga an integral part of their lives, saying a healthy India cannot be imagined without yoga becoming part of every Indian’s daily routine.

Similar appeals were made by the DGP and Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh, who flagged off a ‘Walk for Yoga’ by the women officials.

The pradesh BJP will also conduct a ‘Walk for Yoga’ tomorrow a day ahead of the PM’s arrival here as part of the awareness campaign.

PM Modi is likely to arrive here at 9 PM on June 20 to participate in the programme to be held at the FRI from 6.45 AM to 7.45 AM the following morning.

The prime minister will stay at the Raj Bhawan on the night of June 20 and will take part in the event early next morning at the FRI lawns with its iconic British-era building in the backdrop, along with an estimated crowd of 50,000 people, before leaving for New Delhi, an official said.