Srinagar decked up for G20 working group meeting; security heightened

Srinagar city has been spruced up for the three-day G20 working group meeting on tourism beginning Monday, while stringent security arrangements are in place across the Kashmir Valley to ensure that the high-profile event passes off peacefully, officials said on Sunday.

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, they said.

The officials said Gulmarg tourist resort in north Kashmir, where a meeting is also scheduled, has been beautified too.

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, the officials said.

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, the officials said.

Scanners and sniffer dogs have been pressed into action to check for any explosives or IEDs, they added.

Vehicles passing through the city are being randomly checked to ensure that no subversive elements manage entry into the city, the officials said.

The administration is pulling out all stops to put on a grand show, they said.