India Gate, Red Fort lit up on World Polio Day

India Gate and Red Fort were lit up on Thursday on the eve of the World Polio Day in a pledge to eradicate the disease from India.

The event was organised by the Rotary International and a laser show was also conducted.

Baroda Palace in Gujarat, Kachiguda Railway Station in Hyderabad, Patna Museum in Bihar, and Taj Lands End in Mumbai were other places lit up on the occasion.

India was taken off the list of polio-endemic countries in February 2012 and will be declared 'polio free' only if no fresh case is reported till 2014.

India reported the last wild polio virus type 1 case in West Bengal's Howrah on Jan 13, 2011. (Read: PM Manmohan Singh lauds polio-free India!)

What is polio?

Polio or poliomyelitis is a communicable viral disease which affects the nerves and can lead to partial or permanent paralysis. It is transmitted through stool or saliva. The global effort to eradicate polio has been very successful and from 350,000 cases in 1988 only 40 cases were reported worldwide in 2012. There is no cure for the diseases though vaccination can prevent the disease for life. India has done remarkably in eradicating polio and from 2011 no new cases were reported. Read more..

With inputs from IANS