Parts of Srinagar city get facelift
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, May 21: To ensure that the three-day G20 working group meeting being held in Srinagar event passes off peacefully, stringent security measures are in place in Srinagar with Marine Commandos guarding the waters and National Security Guards the venues of the event.
The route from Srinagar airport to Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) – the venue of the meeting – has been given a massive facelift with the G20 logo painted on walls and hoardings installed to welcome the delegates.
The roads leading to the venue including shores, parks and buildings have been provided absorbing looks to welcome the delegates. The stretch from the Srinagar International Airport has been given a facelift to enhance the aesthetic value of the existing structure.
Roads were macadamized and several projects completed under the Srinagar Smart City Project have been inaugurated by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha recently.
Viewpoints, hoardings, signboards were put up and plantations have been done along the roads from Srinagar Airport to SKICC. There is hope among the people related to the tourism sector from the G20 meeting.
Authorities are taking no chances and have beefed up security across the Valley in view of the G20 meeting.
Elite NSG and Marine Commandos are helping the police and the paramilitary forces to secure the venues of the event. They have been conducting security drills with the elite groups of Jammu and Kashmir Police and Central Reserve Police Force for last one week.
They said massive sanitisation and area domination exercises have been carried out in the areas around the venues, along the route and in vulnerable spots of the city.
Security forces have been deployed in large numbers to ensure an incident-free event. Scanners and sniffer dogs have been pressed into action to check for any explosives or IEDs.
Vehicles passing through the city are being randomly checked to ensure that no subversive elements manage entry into the city.
All the schools in Srinagar have been closed for next 3 days as a precautionary security measure.
The administration is pulling out all stops to put on a grand show.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
