US President Donald Trump is on a 2-day visit to India right now. Now, it is no secret that PM Modi and the Donald are in awe of each other, as they themselves have confessed multiple times. 

Business Today

The two leaders haven’t met each other since the Howdy Modi event in Texas last year. And given Trump’s love for showmanship and this being his first visit to India as the President of the United States, the Indian government has left no stone unturned to make sure this is a memorable visit for him. 

1. Slums have been demolished to construct walls in Ahmedabad to hide the poor from Donald Trump. 

Trump loves walls. In fact, he won the US election in 2016 on the same promise. Anyhow, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has built a half-a-kilometre longwall to hide the Dev Saran slum that is on the route Trump would be taking, The Indian Express reported. 

Ranjan Tendulkar- Twitter

Similarly, other slums have been demolished and walls have been built in their place to hide the poor people from the US President’s eyes. 

Ranjan Tendulkar-Twitter

2. All paan shops have been shut down so that people don’t spit on the streets and walls. 

The AMC has also reportedly sealed all paan shops so that people don’t spit on the streets or stub cigarettes on them. The Times of India has reported that AMC has put up notices saying that legal action would be taken if the seals were removed. 

Business Standard

3. Stray animals(dogs, monkeys, even nilgais) have been caged so that they don’t cause a nuisance on the streets. 

The Cattle Nuisance Control Department of the AMC has reportedly captured dogs to keep them away from the VVIP route. 

New Indian Express

The AMC had also claimed that it would keep away nilgais from the route to avoid repeating of an episode from 2015 when former US Secretary of State, John Kerry’s cavalcade had hit one of the animals.

However, the biggest challenge has been the monkeys at Taj Mahal in Agra, where the US President is to visit with the Indian Prime Minister. According to India Today, the guards there have claimed that the use of catapults would be pointless if there were more than a few of these primates. 

India Today

4. Walls across the route to the Taj Mahal have been freshly painted by professional artists. 

Trump’s love for walls knows no bounds as we have established before. So artists have been hired to freshly paint them walls on his way to the Taj Mahal. 

Evening Standard

5. And as per the usual, roads have been cleaned, dividers have been newly painted for Trump’s arrival. 

Machines have reportedly been hired to keep the roads clean. Financial Express has reported that the route from Keria Airport to the Taj Mahal has been given a makeover. 

Yahoo News

6. Cleaning the Yamuna might have been a major election issue, but its polluted state had never caused this big a headache for the government. 

According to NDTV,  the Adityanath-government in Uttar Pradesh government has released 500 cusecs of water into the Yamuna river. Mind you, this is being done to get rid of the smell emanating from the river because of the polluted water.

However, there is no scientific proof that it does anything to clean up the river. 

Livemint

7. Every house on route to the Taj Mahal is being checked to make sure the Obama incident isn’t repeated. 

Former President Barach Obama’s visit to the Taj Mahal had been cancelled last minute due to security reasons. So to make sure that nothing of the sort happens again, UP police is checking every house and asking hotels to submit details of those staying with them, The Hindu reported. 

123rf

8. In what can only be called a very interesting approach, security agencies have deployed five langurs on the route of Trump’s convoy. 

If you are asking why, well, the langurs apparently help in keeping away other monkeys. Will it work?

We have no idea. But have we employed monkeys to get rid of other monkeys? You are damn right, we have. 

India TV

9. The Taj Mahal has been cleaned for the first time in more than 300 years for Trump’s visit. 

Accoridng to the Indian Express, the replicas of two graves inside the Taj Mahal, have been given a clay-pack treatment. This is the first time the replicas of the graves have been cleaned since their installation more than 300 years ago.

National Geograhic

Mind you, this is just a few of the exhausting arrangements the Indian government is making to ensure that the POTUS’ visit to India goes smooth.