Tight vigil on, preparations reach feverish pitch for Modi, Xi

Ahead of the India-China summit, this ancient coastal town near Chennai has been virtually turned into a fortress with unprecedented security arrangements while the beautification and other preparations touched a feverish pitch on Wednesday.

A Coast Guard ship is stationed off the Shore Temple here and more than 5,000 police personnel, drawn from various parts of Tamil Nadu, have been deployed in and around the town and nearby places including the Old Mahabalipuram Road and the East Coast Road as part of security measures, police said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping will hold talks here on October 11-12 to deepen ties, including in the field of counter-terrorism in the second informal summit.

Reflecting the high levels of security requirement for the two top leaders, dozens of temporary police outposts have been set up in and around the town which will be under the watch of 800 CCTV cameras.

In control rooms, the town's roads, and access points to the shore are being monitored 24x7 while vehicle screening has been intensified.

Behind the shore temple, while a CG ship has been stationed at a distance another one was spotted on patrol by this visiting PTI correspondent.

Asked about the deployment, a defence official said "this is nothing unusual" and declined to elaborate.

Barricades have been put up on the beach near the shore temple, one of the places to be visited by Modi and Xi, while a make-shift wall has been erected along its compound on the side where a string of shops are located.

The wall towering over the shops, which will remain shut, sported 'rangoli' art work in some stretches with the background painted in red colour.

Local fishermen have been asked to stay away from the sea from Thursday, officials said.

Plainclothesmen are swarming the town roads and the Inspection Bungalow is teeming with top state and police officials.

The Special Protection Group and bomb disposal squad personnel are "keeping all the areas including the group of monuments to be visited by the two leaders sanitised."