On a recent weekday, lorries were lined up on East Coast Road in Thiruvidanthai, waiting to enter a sprawling site that was teeming with at least a thousand workers. A crane was being rigged up even as the gentle breeze from the sea was tamping down the afternoon heat. The crane was lifting a Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP), an amphibious armoured vehicle, from a transporter lorry. It looked like a mini-township was being built in a few days — as part of the effort to host the Defence Expo 2018 on April 11.
At the entrance of the Expo ground, another WhAP was lowered from a large lorry.
WhAP has been developed by the Vehicle Research and Development Establishment, an arm of the Defence Research and Development Organisation. A little distance away, an indigenously developed gun by Bharat Forge — an ultra-light Howitzer — was lowered and moved inside the exhibitors’ area.
Large tents had been erected on the site, where workers were hammering away at floor boards. Air conditioning equipment arrived by the dozen on vans to be fitted inside the tents. Companies participating in the Expo — currently 671 of them — were getting their exhibits in place.
Among the large number of Indian labourers toiling away, workers and those in charge of equipment from foreign firms were busy setting up their exhibition space. One of the defence equipment around which a stall was being set up was BAE System’s M777 Ultra Lightweight Howitzer.
‘Arrangements smooth’
“Everything is going smooth so far. We have faced no issues,” one of the staff members told The Hindu when asked about the arrangements for the Expo.
Under a Foreign Military Sales programme, India will buy 145 M777A2 artillery guns in a deal worth $737 million. India took delivery of two of these in May last year.
On the opposite side of the expo grounds, temporary seating arrangements facing the sea have been made for the public to view a number of demonstrations by the HAL and Indian Air Force.
The Indian Air Force’s Sarang team was seen preparing for their demonstration with the indigenously developed Advanced Light Helicopter.
The team will perform their manoeuvring and coordinated flying displays during the period of the Expo.
With the officials of the defence ministry, defence personnel, exhibitors and ministerial delegations set to reach Chennai around April 10, hotels in and around the area have been fully booked.
An exhibitor said it was impossible to find rooms in hotels in Mahabalipuram, OMR, ECR, Kelambakkam and other nearby areas. “We are even finding it difficult to book sport utility vehicles and cars for transport,” he said.
