As the nation gears up for the second informal summit between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mamallapuram in Tamil Nadu, the state and central agencies are making all possible arrangements to ensure seamless execution that will ultimately lead to the summit’s success.
Let us look at some of the arrangements being made:
- Security arrangements
All venues such as the main venue, Mamallapuram monuments, the Chennai airport, the ITC Grand Chola where the president is expected to stay will have access-controlled entry.
As far as close quarter protection is concerned, the two leaders will have a three-layer security protection for each of them.
The first layer of PM Modi will be the Special Protection Group commandos who are tasked with ensuring his security. The Chinese President will have personnel from the Central Security Bureau of the People’s Liberation Army as part of his first layer.
The second layer will see the deployment of the Tamil Nadu Police Core Cell Bureau. These personnel are trained in VIP Protection, frisking and anti-sabotage measures. The third layer of their security will be taken care of by the local police.
All the venues associated with the summit have been sealed and personnel trained in crowd management techniques have been deployed. Yesterday, a Nigerian National was found loitering around the Grand Chola hotel and he escaped before being apprehended. The Ministry of Home Affairs has been notified of this development.
As per unconfirmed reports more than 6000 personnel of the Tamil Nadu police will be deployed for ensuring the security of this summit.
The Indian Coast Guard will remain on a state of high alert as the venue is adjacent to the Bay of Bengal. The Indian Air Force too will be guarding the air space.
The Intelligence wing of the Tamil Nadu along with the central intelligence agencies have scanned the list of suspects belonging to various groups banned in accordance with the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Some of these groups include the LTTE, Naxalites and other Islamist groups such as the Thowaheed Jamiat.
The monuments of Mamallapuram will be shut for the public on both October 11th and 12th .
- Traffic restrictions imposed
President Xi Jinping is expected to travel by road to Mamallapuram from Chennai. The distance is about 60 kms.
The Chennai Traffic Police has released a list of traffic restrictions that will be imposed in the city. The following are the arrangements being made:
ECR, OMR and GST roads will be partially shut on 11th and 12th. All commercial establishments, schools and other educational institutes will be shut during this period.
On both days’ commercial vehicles, water tankers and heavy vehicles will not be permitted to ply from 6 am to 11 pm.
Other restrictions include:
On October 11th from 1230 PM to 2 pm-
All vehicles entering the city from Perungalathur on GST road will be diverted via Madhuravoyal outer ring road. Vehicles from South Chennai proceeding towards the city will be diverted through the Pallavaram radial road, Chrompet and Tambaram to take the Madhuravoyal Outer ring road. Vehicles from Tambaram and Chrompet will be allowed to use the Pallavaram radial road.
October 11th from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM-
Vehicles entering the city from the GST road will not be permitted to enter Guindy. They will be diverted at the Kathipara fly over to take the Jawaharlal Nehru salai.
October 11th from 2 PM-9 PM-
Vehicles coming from Rajiv Gandhi salai will be diverted at Sholinganallur Junction via Perumbakkam road.
Also, vehicles on ECR road will not be allowed to proceed beyond Akkarai towards Muthukaddu.
October 12th from 7:30 AM to 2 PM-
Vehicles coming from Rajiv Gandhi salai will be diverted at Sholinganallur Junction via Perumbakkam road.
October 12th from 7 AM to 1:30 PM
Vehicles on ECR road will not be allowed to proceed beyond Akkarai towards Muthukaddu.
- Cultural arrangements
President Xi will be treated to some enthralling cultural performances from the state of Tamil Nadu. He will surely recall his previous visit to the state of Gujarat in 2014. As per reports he will be received with a warm welcome and some performing artists at the Anna International Airport.
The Kalakshetra foundation will be entertaining the two leaders later on Friday evening. Bharatanatyam and Kathakali, the classical dance forms from the state of Tamil Nadu and Kerala respectively will be performed.
With these intensive arrangements, India will ensure that no hindrance comes in the way of the successful closure of the summit.