Post News Network
Puri, August 4: The district administration and the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) have started preparations for the August 7 visit of President Pranab Mukherjee.
According to the official schedule, Mukherjee’s helicopter will land at the Talabania helipad at 4.15 pm August 7. The President will visit Srimandir 5.50 pm after spending an hour at Governor’s House in the city. He will spend a night in the city and leave for Cuttack to participate in a function at 9.50 am
August 8.
Governor’s House is undergoing a facelift to welcome the President. The district administration has completed renovation work at the conference hall and dining hall of the house. Repairs on a few water fountains on the lawns are on. The works department has demolished a dilapidated kitchen of the house and has rebuilt part of the boundary wall.
A five-tier security blanket will be thrown around Governor’s House for the presidential visit. Twelve platoons of armed police including two platoons from the Special Operations Group (SOG) will secure the building. An additional superintendent of police, two deputy superintendents, four inspectors and 20 sub-inspectors will be handling security.
“The district administration will deploy 16 platoons of armed police along with two DSPs, 18 inspectors and 130 sub-inspectors at the helipad and near Srimandir for the President’s visit,” said superintendent of police Ashis Kumar Singh. The SJTA has made two palm leaf umbrellas to be used by the President in case it rains while he is inside the Srimandir premises.
Mukherjee had visited the city as President for the first time April 25, 2013.