Police turn Breach Candy area into a fortress for PM's visit

Police turn Breach Candy area into a fortress for PM's visit
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

MUMBAI, OCT 7: Minimum inconvenience to the public during Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's visit to the city is the underlying instruction to the law-enforcing agencies in the city. The area around Breach Candy Hospital for a radius of one kilometre will be a hawker-free zone. The traffic police have also laid down parking restrictions in the area.

The city police have also been given strict instructions to cause minimum inconvenience to visitors of patients during security-checks at the Breach Candy Hospital.

The traffic police will maintain a strict vigil to ensure that there are not traffic bottlenecks in the locality. They have been conducting mock drills in the area to ascertain the likely problems they would encounter.

Sign-boards are being prominently displayed to guide motorists. Motorists have also been requested to contact the traffic police personnel on duty in case they experience any difficulty.

The city unit of the BJP has requested its cadre to refrain from assembling on the roads, shouting slogans in the area or causing inconvenience to other patients at the hospital.

The area around the hospital is home to the savvy glitterati of the city. Though the city police have ensured minimum inconvenience, the residents in the locality anticipate severe impediments and restrictions.

``Let's face it, we will definitely be at the receiving-end. The days the Prime Minister will be at the hospital will be no picnic for us,'' said Dimple Shah, a resident of Warden Road.

The traffic constables on duty expect heated arguments from the residents in the area. ``These people will never follow the instructions. They will make things difficult for us. Policing the roads in the posh localities is not an easy job. These mobile-totting people follow their own rules,'' said a traffic constable.

The hawkers were not too happy about being shunted out of the area. ``Kuch hua, hum bahar. Hamara pet ka sawal hai. Vote hamara lo aur hakaal do. Wah!,'' said Dhannaram, a fruit-vendor.

Surprisingly, other than parking instructions the big shops in the area have not been issued any directives. But policemen are posted at strategic locations to ensure that there are no untoward incidents.

The Breach Candy Hospital has become a virtual fortress with security personnel and sniffer dogs all over the place. The corridors of the hospital have become a `no-loitering zone' for the visitors.