Manna Dey's songs played at Kolkata traffic signals

Manna Dey's songs played at the city's traffic signals, while a large number of his fans paid floral tributes to the legendary singer before his photographs at the Rabindra Sadan here Friday.

Dey's nephew Sudeb Dey, some Manipuri students and several renowned singers were among those who paid homage to the maestro at the Rabindra Sadan.

There was a trickle of people through the day to pay respect to the great music personality who died in Bangalore early Thursday following a prolonged illness. He was 94.

After Dey's daughter turned down her request to bring the body to Kolkata for a state funeral, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had ordered that arrangements be made at Rabindra Sadan for the people to pay their last respects to him.

Atop one of the pictures is written "Tar gaan theme geche" (His songs have fallen silent).

Banerjee also instructed Kolkata Mayor Sovan Chetterjee to ask the police to play Dey's ever popular Bengali numbers from traffic signals, replacing the usual fare of Rabindra Sangeet, for the next seven days.

Soon after coming to power in 2011, the Banerjee government had started playing soulful Rabindra Sangeet at trafficsignals, in a novel venture to ease the rough ride on the city's roads.

On Friday, Dey's songs were played at most of the traffic junctions in the metropolis.

Meanwhile, soccer giants Mohun Bagan has decided to hold a minute's silence in Dey's memory Saturday before the kick off of its I-League away match against Mumbai FC, at Balewadi Stadium, Pune. Dey, an avid football buff, was a Mohun Bagan member.