Kanpur village getting facelift ahead of President Ramnath Kovind's visit

KANPUR:

Ishwariganj village

of

Kalyanpur block

where

President Ramnath Kovind

is expected to visit on September 15 is being spruced up. He would be accompanied with UP governor Ram Naik and CM Yogi Adityanath. President Kovind would mark the beginning of nationwide campaign - 'Swacchta Se Sewa'. Ishwariganj village is Kanpur's first ODF (Open Defecation Free) village and it is due to this reason that 'Swacchta Se Sewa' campaign would commence from here. Ishwariganj was declared the first open defecation free (ODF) village of the district on November 28, 2016. President Kovind is likely to spend more three hours during his visit to the city.

All roads leading to the village are being repaired and widened. Bithoor road on Tuesday was being widened to give smooth passage to movement of vehicular fleet. The villagers were happy with the pace of the work. A giant German hanger Pandal to accommodate around 2000 people is being readied in front of the stage where President will sit on the dias. A newly constructed link road will offer a smooth ride to VVIPs as they visit the village.

When team TOI visited Ishwariganj village on Tuesday, hundreds of workers were seen busy doing some or the other work related to the preparations for the President's programme. Few teams were witnessed busy in raising the structure of German hanger while dozens of labourers remained busy in the construction of the stage. A team of carpenters were seen preparing a wooden structure for raising barricades and preparing stage. A green room for the VVIPs will also be made behind the dias. The ground was being levelled and water was being sprinkled to settle the dust. Separate entry gates would be made for the visitors coming to this ground in the village.

As many as three temporary helipads in Ishwariganj Village and two at Chandra Shekahr Azad (CSA) University of Agriculture of Technology have been prepared for the occasion. According to DM Surendra Singh, President Ram Nath Kovind would be coming here at Ishwariganj village along with Governor Ram Naik and CM Yogi Adityanath. He said that the President would be coming here at 2.30 pm and leaving Kanpur at 5.45 pm. DM also mentioned that President would stay in village till 4 pm and then he would visit Tilak Nagar residence of Ishwar chandra Gupta, an ex-MP. However, he said that the official itinerary is yet to come.

The entire team of district administration along with the other civic bodies remained busy in discussing doing preparations for President's programme. SPG official Vijay Kiran, DM Surendra Singh, Chief Development Officer, Arun Kumar took the stalk of the situation on Tuesday. Later senior police officials including ADG Avinash Chandra, IG Alok Kumar Singh and DIG Sonia Singh also reached Ishwariganj. The had a long conversion regarding security arrangements.

Along with the President, Governor and Chief Minister local MPs, MLAs and around 600 BJP party workers would attend the programme. District magistrate Surendra Singh informed that around 150 National Cadet Corps (NCC) candidates would also take part in the programme.

Singh informed that all the preparation related to the expected programme of President had been done. “Only final touches are being made and these would be completed by September 14”, he added.

Meanwhile villagers are also excited to see and meet the President of India. Villagers of Ishwariganj are a happy lot and consider themselves to be lucky. The curious villagers in large numbers were seen at the ground on Tuesday where programme has been scheduled to be held.