Thousands of school and college students on Saturday welcomed Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on his maiden visit to the State after assuming the high office. They formed a human chain on both sides of the 23-km stretch from the airport at Gannavaram to Prakasam Barrage and greeted Mr. Venkaiah Naidu by waving the tricolour as his open-top vehicle passed by. Mr. Venkaiah Naidu responded by waving his hand at them.
He was accompanied by Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
The students also carried a one-km-long national flag ahead of the procession that began at the airport. Artistes performed folk dances and played drums.
Traffic curbs
Earlier, the Chief Minister, Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar, DGP N. Sambasiva Rao, Union Minister Y.S. Chowdary, MPs, and officials of the district administration received the Vice-President at the airport.
Though the procession went off smoothly, traffic diversions briefly impacted the vehicular flow.
Candidates appearing for the Group I Mains examinations encountered certain difficulties.
Though the police announced traffic curbs one day earlier, a few Group I aspirants were caught in the snarls, but managed to reach the examination centres on time. Meanwhile, vehicles on the roads leading to Kolkata-Chennai NH and M.G. Road were stopped to pave way for the procession. It took nearly three hours for the procession to reach Prakasam Barrage via Ramavarappadu Ring, Benz Circle, and Police Control Room. The police used drone cameras to get live aerial views of the entire route and act accordingly.
Motorists were a bit disappointed as the police did not allow them to move even after the procession passed their junction.
