What does a thriving metropolis, abuzz with its daily commotion of vehicles and people, look like when the vehicles and people vanish from all of a sudden? It looks like a ghost town.
That is what Kathmandu looked like when India’s President Pranab Mukherjee arrived in Kathmandu on a three-day visit. With Nepal Army choppers and personnel patrolling its skies and roads, and Traffic Police personnel stationed on road sections for security checks, the city seemed to be living under curfew.
The routes that Mukherjee’s carcade was to pass through were totally off-limits for vehicles and pedestrians. In surgically effective security measures, officials brought movement of vehicles and people to a complete halt along the TIA-Sinamangal-Tinkune, Baneshwor-Maitighar-Sital Niwas route during Mukherjee’s arrival.
Here are some of the pictures from what seemed like a city under siege:
The day India’s President Pranab Mukherjee arrived, Nepal Army choppers patrolled Kathmandu skies, while NA, Nepal Police and APF personnel patrolled the metropolis, where authorities did not even allow pedestrians to head to their destinations.NA personnel patrolling the Babarmahal-Thapathali section as part of stringent security measures put in place during arrival of Mukherjee. NP, APF and NA personnel deployed as part of stepped up security measures.Security measures were so stringent that law enforcement even removed people, who were waiting at rooftops of their houses to have passing glimpses of Mukherjee’s arrival. Letting people open their roadside shops was out of the question.The government had emptied the roads 10 minutes before the arrival of Mukherjee. Law enforcement had even barred pedestrians from walking along footpaths. High officials took pains upon themselves to empty the roads.
