New Delhi:

The Indian Air Force has taken an operational pause in the ongoing Exercise Trishul going on in the northern sector as fighter aircraft will not be flying from September 7-10.

IAF officials made it clear that only the flying operations of the aircraft involved in Ex Trishul would be paused and other routine flying may continue.

In this period, the Indian Air Force would start operating its PHALCON AWACS aircraft to keep an eye on the air space across the country to protect the air space over the national capital region in view of the G-20 summit, defence sources said.

The Indian Air Force is also deploying its Rafale and other fighter jets at the advanced air bases to protect Delhi skies for the summit.

The surface-to-air missile systems have also been moved to places around Delhi for taking out enemy aircraft or rogue drones.

Indian Air Force has been carrying out a major training exercise codenamed Trishul in the northern sector along the borders with both China and Pakistan since September 4.

All major fleets of fighter aircraft including the Rafale, Mirage 2000 and the Su-30MKIs are participating in the drills along with heavy-lift transport aircraft and choppers including the Chinooks and Apache. Garud Special Forces are also part of the drills where all elements of air power are being exercised.

Exercise has been underway from September 4 and will culminate on September 14 in the northern sector including Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir and Punjab.

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New Delhi:

In view of the G20 Summit scheduled to be held in the national capital on September 9 and 10, the Delhi Police Railway unit along with the Railway Police Force (RPF) patrolled the New Delhi Railway Station on Tuesday.

They patrolled the train coaches and checked the bags as a security measure.

India is all set to host the G20 Summit in New Delhi from September 9-10. World leaders will arrive in New Delhi to attend the G20 Summit. The summit will be hosted at the state-of-the-art Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Meanwhile, the Delhi government on Tuesday issued a gazette notification on traffic restrictions imposed across the national capital in view of the upcoming G20 summit.

According to the gazette notification, all types of goods vehicles, commercial vehicles, interstate buses and local city buses shall not operate on Mathura Road (beyond Ashram Chowk), Bhairon Road, Purana Quila Road and inside Pragati Maidan Tunnel from 00:00 hours on the intervening night of September 7 and 8 to 23:59 hours on September 10.

Goods vehicles carrying Essential Commodities such as milk, vegetables, fruits, medical supplies and others having valid ‘No Entry Permissions’ will be allowed to enter Delhi, it stated.

The entire area of New Delhi District will be considered as “Controlled Zone-I” from 5 a.m. on September 8 to 23:59 hours on September 10, the notification stated.

The entire area inside Ring Road (Mahatma Gandhi Marg) will be considered a “Regulated Zone” from 5 a.m. on September 8 to 23:59 hours on September 10.

Only bonafide residents, authorized vehicles, emergency vehicles and vehicles of passengers travelling to the Airport, Old Delhi and New Delhi Railway Stations will be allowed to ply on the road network of New Delhi District, the notification read.

No TSR and taxi will be allowed to enter or ply in the New Delhi District from 5 am on September 9 to 23:59 hours on September 10.

All types of commercial vehicles including buses that are already present in Delhi shall be allowed to move on Ring Road and road network beyond Ring Road towards the borders of Delhi, the notification stated.

Notably, India assumed the G20 presidency on December 1 last year and about 200 meetings related to G20 were organized in 60 cities across the country.

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New Delhi:

To avert any waterlogging or flooding situation during the G20 Summit, the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) will deploy four heavy-duty Mobile Dewatering Trucks, Raj Niwas officials said on Monday.

The equipment, specially borrowed from Ahmedabad, have been deployed at ITPO and Raj Ghat to avert any waterlogging or flooding-related eventuality if it rains in the national capital during the G20 Summit, they said.

The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held from September 9-10 at a newly built international convention and exhibition centre — Bharat Mandapam — at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.

Vehicles equipped with high-capacity suction pumps have been brought in by DFS to deal with any contingency like the one recently, where the area in and around the Raj Ghat and ITPO were submerged after heavy rains, the officials said.

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena, during his review meetings in the run-up to the summit, had repeatedly stressed putting in place a comprehensive and foolproof contingency plan in and around the G20 venues to deal with waterlogging or flooding situations in the city, in case it rains heavily during the event.

On Sunday, the LG accompanied the Principal Secretary to the PM P K Mishra and inspected these vehicles stationed at ITPO.

Two such vehicles each have been deployed at Raj Ghat and ITPO and can be moved anywhere as per the requirement, the officials said.

Each of these vehicles is capable of high-speed water suction at the rate of 10,000 litres per minute from a radius of 15 metres, they said, adding that once completely loaded with fuel, these vehicles can operate for 24 hours continuously.

These diesel-run vehicles are equipped with BS-VI engines of 60 BHP capacity at 1500 RPM and are minimally polluting, both in terms of emission and noise pollution and being run at a noise level of 85 dBA at 7m, they added.

Eventually, DFS will be procuring such vehicles on a permanent basis.

In an interview with PTI on Saturday, Mr Saxena said a multi-agency contingency plan will be activated if there is a heavy downpour during the summit.

Sixty heavy-duty mobile pumping sets will be deployed around the Pragati Maidan, the venue for the event, he said.

Areas prone to waterlogging have been taken care of with the construction of drains and underground storage tanks, he said.

“All arrangements are in place and we are prepared to handle any situation,” he said.

“Agencies like the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), PWD (Public Works Department) and Flood and Irrigation Department have been put on alert to handle any situation. Every detail has been minutely planned and arrangements made,” Mr Saxena said. 

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New Delhi:

Ambulances will be positioned at strategic locations in Delhi for the G20 Summit, Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said on Monday. The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to be held on September 9-10. 

The summit is likely to be attended by more than 30 heads of state and top officials from the European Union and invited guest countries and 14 heads of international organisations.

Five government hospitals and three private medical facilities in the national capital have been put on “high alert” in view of the summit, Bharadwaj said on August 30.

On Monday, he told PTI, “No fund has come from the Centre. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed that Delhi government funds be spent. We have no problem with it because it is a matter that concerns the country.”

The Delhi government has readied five of its hospitals, rooms and beds have been earmarked for emergency, and doctors and paramedical staff will be deployed round-the-clock at hotels where the delegates will stay.

Ambulances will accompany the carcades and also be positioned at strategic locations, Mr Bharadwaj said as he called the summit a “big moment” for the country.

“In Delhi, we have the central government and a city government. Both want to together show good work so that the visiting guests remember Delhi, its people and the Delhi government and the central government,” he told reporters.

The health department has formed 80 teams of doctors and nursing staff to serve the guests at the hotels. Of these, 75 teams will work in shifts, officials have said.

Mr Bharadwaj recently convened a meeting at the Delhi Secretariat to take stock of healthcare arrangements for the summit.

“In light of the G20 Summit, the Delhi government has placed five major government hospitals and three private hospitals on high alert to ensure the health care arrangements are in place. These include primarily Lok Nayak Hospital, GB Pant Hospital, GTB Hospital, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital and Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital, along with private facilities Primus Hospital Chanakyapuri, Max Hospital Saket and Manipal Hospital Dwarka,” he had said.

Lok Nayak Hospital has reserved 20 rooms, GB Pant Hospital 10 rooms, GTB Hospital 20 beds, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital 65 beds, and Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital 40 beds to address any situation that may arise during the summit, Bharadwaj was quoted as saying in a health department statement earlier.

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New Delhi:

 Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday said the Constitution does not give LG V K Saxena “power to sanction money” for projects in the national capital, amid a war of words between the BJP and AAP over funding of projects for G20 Summit.

Reacting to Bharadwaj’s remarks, Mr Saxena said if someone wants to take credit for the work done by him, they can, while noting that if that was the scenario, it meant that the Centre is doing good work.

On Sunday, the BJP said Delhi’s makeover for the G20 Summit has been funded by the Centre and accused the ruling AAP dispensation in the national capital of claiming credit for it.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) hit back, saying that it is shocked to see that the “BJP had to pass the developmental work done by the city government as its own”.

On Monday, Mr Bharadwaj said, “Whatever work done by PWD and MCD is done using taxpayers’ money. PWD did not even get a penny from the Centre.” Mr Bharadwaj said this when asked by reporters about BJP’s claims, after his visit to the iconic British-era Town Hall and Ghalib ki Haveli in the Walled City.

Sharing a list of the projects, the minister said 89 roads have been beautified by PWD, and the work involved cleaning, planting of trees and resurfacing them.

“It is Delhi government’s money and by that I mean it is taxpayers’ money. There is no money given by the Centre or LG. Some people are having this misunderstanding that it is LG’s money,” Mr Bharadwaj asserted.

Citing the Constitution, he said, “Show me any article of the Constitution or lawbook that gives LG power to sanction even a single penny.” “PWD engineer can sanction Rs 20 lakh because he is answerable to the department that is accountable to minister, who in turn is answerable to the Vidhan Sabha, which is accountable to people. LG sahab has no accountability. He has not been given power by the Constitution. He should not get angry with us. He can inspect our roads. Even prime minister, home minister can inspect our roads. We don’t have any objection,” the minister said.

Mr Bharadwaj opined that the Centre was “belittling itself” by talking about funding.

Later in the day, LG Saxena reacted to Mr Bharadwaj’s remarks during a DDA event.

“I don’t want to comment much on it. But would only like to say that we will continue doing our work. If someone wants to take credit for it, they can. I am satisfied with this thing that if I am doing some work and someone wants to take credit for it, it means that we are doing good,” he told PTI Video.

Even on earlier occasions, the LG office and AAP dispensation have sparred over the issue of taking credit for projects.

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New Delhi:

Nearly 6.75 lakh pots of flowering plants and foliage will adorn designated roads and venues in Delhi for the G20 Summit next month, Raj Niwas officials said on Sunday.

The major locations that have been beautified with potted plants include the Sardar Patel Marg, Mother Teresa Crescent, Teen Murti Marg, Dhaula Kuan-IGI Airport Road, Palam Technical Area, India Gate C-Hexagon, Mandi House, Akbar Road roundabout, Delhi Gate, Rajghat and the ITPO, they said.

After a preparatory meeting headed by Lieutenant Governor (LG) VK Saxena, directions were issued identifying agencies who would undertake this drive and they were tasked with procuring a specific number of plants or pots, preferably from their own nurseries, the officials said.

“This resulted in a seamless coordination between five departments or agencies undertaking the procurement and placement of these potted plants with the LG personally monitoring the progress of work and inspecting different corridors in the last couple of months,” an official said.

While the forest department and the Delhi Parks and Garden Society placed 3.75 lakh plants (1.25 lakh foliage and 2.5 lakh flowering), the PWD placed 50,000 (35,000 foliage and 15,000 flowering), the DDA one lakh (85,000 foliage and 15,000 flowering), the NDMC one lakh and the MCD 50,000 pots, the official added.

While 4.05 lakh potted foliage have already been placed along the 61 roads, the remaining potted flowering plants will be put up in the first week of September so that the plants are in full bloom during the duration of the G20 Summit, the officials said.

The LG also visited the Palam Air Force Station on Sunday.

“At ‘Yakshini Chowk’- the road junction at Air Force Station, Palam Technical Area.

As we get set to welcome HoGs/HoSs for the forthcoming G20 Summit,” he said in a tweet.

On his 54th inspection or monitoring visit on Sunday since July 1, the LG also visited the India Gate C-Hexagon, Akbar Road, Tughlaq Road, Kautilya Marg, SP Marg, Dhaula Kuan and Thimmayya Marg, the officials added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)