Chennai: The Madras High Court today approved the Tamilnadu government’s request to place banners from Chennai airport to Mahabalipuram during the summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping to be held 11 October.
Hearing a petition filed by the Tamilnadu government seeking the court’s permission to erect banners, a division bench of Justice M Sathyanaranan and Justice N Seshasayee advised the State government to ensure that the banners do not cause inconvenience to the public in anyway.
When the petition was taken up for hearing this morning, the government advocate Vijay Narayanan said that 16 locations have been identified to place the banners.
The advocate further said the ban on banner is applicable only for the political parties and not for the government.
It may be noted that Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami yesterday visited Mamallapuram and inspected the arrangements being made for the summit. Palaniswami also held discussions with the officials about the steps being taken for the event.
The famous tourist spot has already been brought under tight vigil as it is said that more than 500 police personnel have been deployed as precaution.
CCTV cameras have been installed in strategic locations for round-the-clock surveillance. Every vehicle that enters and leaves the place is subjected to police checking. Hotels and resorts have been advised to rent rooms only to those who have proper documents.
The residents too have been asked not to entertain any outsiders to stay in the place.
Modi and Xi Jinping are expected to visit three of the monuments – Shore temple, Arjuna’s penance and 5 Rathas during their two day visit.