PANAJI
Thousands of people gathered at the Mopa international airport site ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s arrival on Sunday afternoon. But, while the crowd turned up to witness the historic moment amid multi-tier security, in what was a gesture to show their loyalty to the leaders; they faced a harsh reality. The venue capacity was full even as more people kept piling to be a part of the inauguration.
A chaotic situation prevailed outside the much-hyped new airport when the armed security personnel refused to allow the crowd in, citing that the venue was already packed to its capacity.
Fuming over half-hearted arrangements by the authorities concerned, people who travelled from the North to even extreme South of Goa left no stone unturned to blame their elected representatives for leaving them in an embarrassing situation.
“We were given passes to attend the event but on reaching here, the security personnel refused to let us in. Are we come here to get insulted?” said one of them, who struggled to cross the barricade despite having a pass.
Mopa villagers, too invited to the venue, were stranded outside the main gate. Among the crowd, a mother with an infant waiting to have a glimpse of PM Modi left others heart wrenched. “We could have allowed her inside the venue but the venue is full beyond the capacity. SPG has taken control of the overall security since it is PM’s visit. We are helpless,” said one of the Goa police personnel, posted at the main gate.
While the hanger where the PM graced the occasion consisted of around 6,000 seating capacity, which extended to 7,000-odd; at least over 2,000 were left waiting outside “ over half a km to one km from the main venue.
“We came at around 2 pm although the inauguration is at 4 pm but we are made to wait here. We are going back, no point in waiting here,” said another.
Rains played spoilsport for the stranded people as they rushed to another hangar to take shelter. Invites more than the capacity has now raised questions as one of them said, “Government has also distributed passes.”
It is learnt that some panch members distributed at least five passes to each family while local MLAs also had additional passes for their constituency people. VIP and VVIP passes were in addition to the passes allotted to locals.
