Delhi Decked Up To Host World Leaders At G20 Meet, Curbs From 9 pm

With less than 12 hours to go until the traffic restrictions kick in, the Delhi Police is gearing up for a hectic four days, even as most people living or working in the New Delhi District are looking forward to a forced long weekend. Heavy, medium and light goods vehicles will not be allowed to enter Delhi from 9 pm today till midnight on Sunday. The same restrictions will apply to taxis and autos from 5 am on Saturday. 

A gazette notification by the Delhi government said the entire area of New Delhi District will be considered a "Controlled Zone" from tomorrow morning till Sunday. Only bona fide residents, authorised vehicles and vehicles involved in services such as housekeeping, catering, waste management for hotels, hospitals and other important installations in the district will be allowed to travel to India Gate, C-Hexagon and other such areas. 

All cloud kitchens, commercial establishments, markets, food delivery, and commercial delivery services will be shut from tomorrow to Sunday. Deliveries from services like Swiggy, Zomato, Amazon and Flipkart will not be allowed in the controlled zone, but those of medicines and essential items will.

The arrival of world leaders began on Tuesday, with the Nigerian delegation. The Mexican and European Union delegations are expected to reach New Delhi today, but the bulk of the arrivals will happen tomorrow, including those of US President Joe Biden, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. 

The G20 Summit will be the first time India will host such a powerful group of leaders from across the globe and the security cordon will consist of thousands of personnel, including snipers. Indian Air Force fighter planes will be on standby and the airspace over the national capital will be monitored for all suspicious activity, including unmanned aerial vehicles and drones.

Another, albeit different, layer of security will be provided by langur cutouts and mosquito larva-eating fish. Monkeys have become a menace in parts of the city - including Lutyens' Delhi - and several reports have emerged of the animals attacking and biting people. To combat this, over a dozen langur cutouts have been strategically placed in affected areas. Nearly 40 trained people, who can mimic the sounds of langurs to scare away the monkeys, will also be deployed. 

Eight teams equipped with insecticide sprayers are dousing likely mosquito-breeding sites across the G20 venue, the Hindustan Times reported. An official said that batches of larvae-eating mosquitofish were released ahead of the conference into around 180 lakes and fountain pools.

Authorities have planted nearly 7 lakh flowering and foliage plants in different plants of Delhi. About 15,000 metric tonnes of solid waste have been cleared, and over 100 sculptures and 150 fountains with different designs have been installed at various locations to give the city an aesthetic look.

Speaking to NDTV, G20 Special Secretary (Operations) Muktesh Pardeshi said that, as the host nation, India has received many requests for bilateral meetings. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive the world leaders individually at Bharat Mandapam in Pragati Maidan, which is the venue of the summit, on Saturday.

Digital experience zones are being created at Bharat Mandapam so that visiting leaders, delegates, ministers and media personnel can understand the progress India has made in the digital sector, Mr Pardeshi said. To ensure that members of the delegations can try out UPI, the Reserve Bank of India is setting up special zones where they can do so without being registered for it.