Poonch attack triggers fresh review of security for G20 meet in Srinagar

‘Special Forces would be deployed along with aerial cover and drones for the G20 meet in Srinagar’.

SRINAGAR: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs and intelligence are going to have a fresh review of the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir, especially after the Poonch attack, as the timing of the attack is very near to the SCO meet in Goa and G20 summit in J&K, the two global events being held in the country.
Reports said that Special Forces would be deployed along with aerial cover and drones for the G20 meet in Srinagar as the central government does not want to take any chances after the Poonch attack in which five Rashtriya Rifles (RR) jawans were killed. In and around Dal Lake, security has been beefed up as the paramilitary forces have been deployed in motor boats to keep a vigil as the venue of G20 meet is on the banks of Dal Lake. In Srinagar city, authorities are finishing all the pending projects under the Smart City mission by the end of this month so that the city is ready to welcome G20 delegates in May.
The government has told many news channels that the venue of the G20 meeting would be SKICC Srinagar on the banks of Dal Lake and delegates would be taken to sanitized and secured places like ski resort of Gulmarg, National Wildlife Sanctuary of Dachigam and would be also taken around the Dal Lake in the shikaras. The security arrangements have been enhanced and on the entire route from airport to SKICC, police have been inquiring about the occupants in houses so that there is no room for any mischief.
The entire route that the G20 delegates will take from the airport is getting a makeover as the J&K government has almost completed 80 projects in the city, under the Smart City mission. The Srinagar Municipal Corporation is painting the walls from the airport up to the venue and even the historic clock tower in Lal Chowk has been demolished and a new tower is being made to synchronise with the new look of Lal Chowk.
While the government is finishing the work on all these projects, the former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir in a series of tweets has criticised the administration for demolishing the heritage and aesthetics of Kashmir by these new projects in the city. She in a series of tweets said, “Traditional & heritage style of architecture & planning is being replaced by hideous tiles seen in public toilets. Sad to see beautiful divar stones demolished to make way for tacky & distasteful planning. Urban landscaping can be done without destroying our traditional aesthetics. Excavating half of Srinagar for a ‘Smart City’ by reducing motorable roads to increase pedestrian paths isn’t just causing harrowing inconvenience. It also comes at the cost of aesthetics”.
In the coming days, the Union Home Ministry will send teams of security experts to Srinagar so as to take a comprehensive view about the security situation on the ground before the G20 delegate meeting is held here.