Students be there early, Clinton's in town

Students be there early, Clinton's in town
SMEETA MISHRA PANDEY

NEW DELHI, MARCH 15: After US president Bill Clinton lands at the technical area of the Indira Gandhi International airport, fifty odd motorcycles and Maruti gypsys of the Delhi Police will escort the sixty-car-long cavalcade through the capital's streets to Maurya Sheraton. Details of security measures en route the airport-Sheraton stretch were finalised at a closed-door meeting at the police headquarters this morning.

The cavalcade will leave the technical area around 5.15 pm on March 19, pass through national highway number 8, Rao Tularam Marg, Dhaula Kuan roundabout and finally reach the Sheraton in 25 five minutes. Along the route, 300-odd gun-weilding policemen, with duty slips and identity cards fixed to their uniforms, will be posted. Another 400-odd traffic policemen will attend to the traffic movement en route.

Till the grand cavalcade enters the Sheraton gates, all traffic movement will be closed on both sides of the roadway. Traffic will be affected after 4 pm on March 19 (from airport to Maurya Sheraton), morning of March 20 (from the hotel to airport), throughout the day on March 21 (as he will be visiting Rajghat, Parliament, Hyderabad house and Rashtrapati bhawan) and till the afternoon of March 22 (Rashtrapati Bhawan and airport routes) until he flies off to Agra.

``March 21, the day after Holi, will be a day of deadly traffic snarls,'' said a security personnel of the Delhi Police. ``Those who will suffer most because of the snarls are the class X and class XII students whose examinations are on. Our message to these students is to reach the examination centres early in the morning. Traffic will be clogged after 8.30 am on March 22.''

The security personnel point out that students and their parents should be ``extra careful as once they are stuck in the traffic jam, nobody can help them. Security is so tight that no exceptions whatsoever can be made.''