Srinagar to be under highest ever security blanket on G20 eve
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, May 9 : Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla today reviewed security ahead of the G20 tourism group meeting in Srinagar and Amarnath yatra with top security and administrative officials here at the SKICC.
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An official said that Bhalla took a detailed review of the security arrangements for the G-20 event. “Director IB, DGP Dilbag Singh, ADGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar, Mukesh Singh, GOC’s of 15 and 16 Corps, IGPs of CRPF and BSF GOC 15 Corps were present in the meeting,” he said.
He said that the meeting discussed threadbare the security arrangements for the G20 meeting and the security challenges faced after recent attacks in Poonch and Rajouri which claimed the lives of 10 Army personnel.
The official said that the plan prepared by Security Grid which entails plugging and foiling all possible threats including Vehicle-borne IEDs, fidayeen attacks, sticky bomb threat, drone attacks and grenade attacks were discussed and counter strategy framed and finalized during the meeting.
He said that the deployment of MARCOS, the elite marine commandos and NSG in lakes and rivers was also discussed threadbare.
The official said that the Union Home Secretary expressed satisfaction over the decision of handing over the security of lakes and rivers to marine commandos and NSG.
He said that it was also decided that the accommodation venue and the event venue will be guarded and sanitized 10-days ahead G-20 summit and both places will have aerial surveillance through drones and snippers will be placed on high-rise buildings.
The G-20 events are slated for May 22-24 in Srinagar. This will be the first time that G-20 events will be held in Srinagar under India’s presidency. J&K administration has already stated that the event was a great opportunity to showcase the tourism potential of the J&K and to give a global push to the tourism of the place, which is the backbone of the total economy of the region.
The meeting discussed that the Army will keep a vigil on highways and other vital road links. “Special directions were passed to keep a close watch on the suspects to avoid any untoward incident,” he said.
Earlier, Bhalla held meeting with the officers from the Tourism Department, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Aijaz Asad besides other officials.
The meeting discussed arrangements made and to be made for the G20 event. The officials from the Tourism Department briefed Bhalla about the preparations and accommodation arrangements for the G-20 guests. Necessary changes were made to the plan to ensure safe and secure accommodation to the guests.
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