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Security blanket in Kumarakom as PM arrives

As Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee arrived in Kumarakom for a week-long holiday on Tuesday, the Southern Naval Command deployed mine detectors and anti-mine devices for his security in the backwaters along the Vembanad lake.

The threat from the Lashkar-e-Tayiba to attack the offices of the prime minister, has forced security agencies to considerably beef up the security cover around Vajpayee and his family members.

For the next one week, the Prime Minister's Office will function from the Taj Garden Retreat at Kumarakom.

The massive security ring thrown in jointly by the Indian Navy, the Special Protection Group and the Kerala state police for the prime minister has jolted the rustic village of Kumarakom.

While a special contingent of some 300 naval commandos known as Marcos have been deployed along the backwaters, some 150 SPG men are stationed in and outside the Taj Garden Retreat. More than 1,000 state policemen have been posted in and around the road that leads to Kumarakom.

Police officials said providing security to the prime minister in Kumarakom is a challenging and intricate affair as the area is surrounded by canals, paddy fields, palm-fringed lakes and waterways.

Particularly cumbersome for the security agencies is the menacing spread of water hyacinths that have covered parts of the backwaters. The prime minister will spend several hours in kettuvallams (houseboats) in the backwaters, especially on new year's eve.

SPG DIG Rishiraj Singh along with top naval and police officials traveled through the backwaters to inspect whether it is safe for the prime minister to spend time in a houseboat along the waterways.

"The massive blanket of hyacinths is a real security problem. And Kumarakom backwaters has plenty. So we are yet to finalise the prime minister's new year eve celebrations in a houseboat," a senior SPG official said.

He said naval commandos, the state police alongwith officials from the state irrigation department were briskly clearing the weeds. "We will soon finalise a clear boating channel for the prime minister's houseboat," the official added.

The Taj Garden Retreat has already readied two houseboats and a number of mechanised boats for Vajpayee. Naval commandos and a technical team have examined and sealed two houseboats for the exclusive use of the prime minister and his family.

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